TMNT AU Volume 1
by Ithiliam
Summary: Basically, what if Hamato Yoshi was the one who died by the hands of Shredder instead of Tang Shen. Well, that's exactly what happened. In this AU, Tang Shen is the turtles' sensei and raised in the sewers like every other incarnation.
1. Origins

It was a quiet and peaceful night in Japan, the night sky was clear and the full moon shone brightly in the dark sky, illuminating everything it touched. In the rural parts of Japan was a large home, a home that belonged to one of the last ninja clans of its kind. The Hamato clan. It was home to the Hamato family and soldiers. Everyone was asleep in their rooms, no one was up except the jonin of the clan, Hamato Yuta. He sits meditating in the family dojo, small candles lit beside him and his cane lying next to him. He was at ease.

His wife, Hamato Amaya was already asleep in the master bedroom. His son and chunin, Hamato Yoshi was too fast asleep in his room alongside his loving wife Tang Shen and their four barely month old sons, Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo. Cousins, aunts, and uncles of the family were too fast asleep in their own rooms. Hamato ninjas were in their sleeping quarters

Outside of the residence, in the dense forest that the home was surrounded in, stood a man within its shadows. All dressed in black, covered in metal armor, his face concealed by a black metal helmet and his hands covered in a metal plate that connected two curved blades. He stared down at the place he had once called home. Memories, good and bad came fluttering to his mind as he reminded himself of why he was there. There was something he had to do, something that would bring honor back to him. At least, that is what his mind kept saying. His heart, on the other hand, told him that he shouldn't, that what he was thinking of doing was wrong. He wanted to follow what his heart was saying but couldn't. It was like he was under a spell that he could not break from.

A small number of men, ninja, gathered behind him, awaiting their orders from the metal man. Without turning his attention to them, he gave them their orders.

"Burn it down, kill any ninja inside. But make sure the family gets out alive." He stated before his ninja went ahead towards the Hamato estate.

Running down the hill, some ninjas took out a bow and arrow and shot the arrows at the ninjas keeping watch of the Hamato estate. Taking out grappling hooks, they threw it up to the stone wall that encased the home and climbed their way over before jumping down the wall and heading towards the house itself. They all entered quietly, entering from open windows and non-squeaky doors. They ventured through the dark wooden hallways, the only source of light being small candles perched on brass stands. One of them knocked the candle over, setting aflame the wooden floor before it started making its rampage to engulf the rest of the house.

Amaya heard footsteps coming from outside her room. At first, she ignored it, thinking it was the footsteps of her husband's but then a woody smell came to her. Lazily, she got up from her bed and walked out of her room. Nothing was out of the ordinary but she could still smell something odd, something woody, something burning. Quickly she walked through the hallways to find any clue as to the source of the smell. She rounded a corner to be terrified by the sight. Flames had started to engulf the wooden home. She didn't think twice before heading out to wake the others.

* * *

The man from the forest had come down to the house that had already started to release dense black smoke from its open windows. He met with one of his ninjas as they began pouring out of the house.

"The soldiers have been slain and the family had begun to awake," the ninja reported.

"Good, now retreat back to base. I still have something to do," The man said before heading inside the burning home. His soldiers followed his words and retreated back to their base, away from the Hamato clan.

* * *

"Shen! Yoshi! Wake up!"

"For goodness sake wake up you two!"

Amaya had gone into the room of Yoshi and Shen and was shaking them awake. They awoke with a start, shooting up from the bed to be met face to face with Amaya.

"Mother, what's wrong? Why do you wake us so early?" Yoshi questioned her as he rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes.

"The house is on fire!" She explained hastily.

"On fire?!" Shen blurted out, shocked at Amaya's words.

"Yes! I do not know how it started but we have to get out of here and wake the others!" Amaya said before getting up from the bed and going straight towards the children's crib and grabbing Donatello into her arms. Yoshi and Shen got up from the bed and did the same, Shen grabbing Michelangelo while Yoshi grabbed both Raphael and Leonardo. They ran through the entire house, waking up the rest of their family members, avoiding the ever-expanding fire.

* * *

Yuta was still meditating in the dojo, the fire had yet to reach the room. The door to the dojo opened and closed quietly, someone had come inside and walked toward Yuta, stopping right behind the old man.

"Hello... _father_,"

Yuta was knocked out of concentration by the sound of the voice. While startled, he immediately recognized the owner of the voice, his adoptive son, Oroku Saki.

* * *

Yoshi, Tang Shen, and Amaya ran out of the house with the rest of their family following close behind to the front garden which thankfully had been spared from the fire. They took roll call but there was still a couple missing from the family.

"Who's missing?" Amaya questioned aloud, readjusting her hold on Donatello.

"Mei and her daughter are still inside!" Tang Shen said, noticing her cousin's absence.

"Father! He's still inside!" Yoshi blurted out, "We must hurry and get them out!"

Tang Shen and Yoshi gave their children to other members of the family before running back inside the house.

"You go get Mei, I will go after father!" Yoshi told his wife before setting off to find his father. Shen going in the opposite direction to find Mei and her daughter.

* * *

"For the dishonor you put onto my clan, my family, I shall do what you did to my father, Oroku Kaiji." Saki raised his bladed hand in the air, leveled to his head.

"Sayonara, Hamato Yuta."

Saki sliced Yuta's head clean off from its old decaying body. Yuta's head bounced and rolled on the wooden floor, stopping right beside Saki's feet.

"Father!" a voice shouted from the distance.

Saki turned around to the door as the owner of the voice. His eyes widen at the sight.

"Father!" Yoshi yelled out in distraught at the sight before him.

* * *

Tang Shen had made her way through the house, avoiding the red flames consuming the wood around her. She turned another hallway and found the people she was looking for. Yoshi's cousin Mei was in the hallway with her daughter in arms, protecting her from the fire. The support beam had collapsed in the middle of the hallway, trapping Mei on the other side.

"Mei!" Shen called out.

"Shen! Thank goodness you've come!" Mei responded.

"Hand me the girl!" Shen said, extending her arms out over the beam. Mei carried her child through the wood over to Shen who quickly grabbed her and set her down on her feet next to her. "Climb over! We do not have much time!"

Mei pulled up her nightgown before climbing over the support beam, avoiding touching the fire. Creaking came from the ceiling, Shen looked up to see the roof caving in on itself. Without thinking twice, she yanked Mei over the support beam over to the other side right before the ceiling had fallen.

"Let's go!" Shen grabbed hold of Mei's hand and led her out the house, Mei carrying her daughter in her other arm.

They managed to get out of the house before they had become trapped by the flames. They met up with the rest of the family. Shen looked around to find her husband nowhere in sight.

"Where's Yoshi?!" She asked Amaya who was holding Donatello and Michelangelo in her arms.

"He's still inside! I think he's trapped inside!" She told her worryingly.

She did not think twice before running back inside the house, much to the dismay of Amaya.

"Shen, no!" Amaya called out but Shen was already inside. She only hopes that she makes it out alive.

* * *

"I will make you pay, monster!" Yoshi screamed at the top of his lungs as he struck his katana he had grabbed from the dojo at the man before him, unaware it was his adoptive brother, Saki.

Saki dodged the blade before countering with his own strike. Yoshi blocked it with his katana just as quickly as it came to slice at him.

"Yuta was the one who sealed his fate when he murdered my father so many years ago! He had it coming for him!" Saki responded angrily. "After so many lies, so much belittlement, so many secrets... he deserved to die, to restore honor to the Foot Clan and the Oroku family!"

He was in such a blind rage that he did not recognize the man before him as Yoshi another but nothing more than an obstacle. His vision became blurry and began taking a reddish tint.

He took another swing at Yoshi, unfortunately, he had used his katana to push Saki's arm back, leaving him open for an attack. With his other hand, he upper-cut Saki under the chin, sending him flying back and his helmet coming clean off his head. Yoshi's eyes widen at the sight of the man hidden underneath the helmet.

"S-Saki?" He stuttered in utter shock at the revelation. He could not believe his eyes, the man who murdered his father was his brother, his best friend since childhood. The man before him had changed, he was not the same man he had known before. The look in his eyes told Yoshi that, those soft cocoa-colored eyes had turned into a dark crimson color, almost blood.

"H-How could you?" Yoshi questioned him.

"How could you?!" He repeated, this time with more sorrow and rage in his tone.

"How?!" He screamed with full rage coming from his lungs.

Yoshi, becoming blinded by rage, pointed his katana at the man before him.

"I will make you pay for what you did to our father!" Yoshi exclaimed before rushing in to strike at Saki. He blocked his blade and countered with strikes of his own.

"He was your father! Not mines!" Saki stated.

"What are you talking about?!" Yoshi said, confused on his words as he blocked another attack.

"I am the son of Oroku Kaiji! The same man that your father killed in cold blood! He destroyed my father! He destroyed my clan! And he kept all of that a secret!" Saki spat out.

Their battle raged on between the rage blinded men continued to strike blow after blow, waiting for one of them to become defeated.

"You and your father took everything away from me! He took my family, my clan, my honor, my chance at being jonin for the Hamato clan! You took away the one person I had loved in the world. You took Tang Shen away from me!" Saki screamed at the top of his lungs. "She was mine to love! I love her more than you could ever imagine and you took her away from me!"

"She was never meant to be yours!" Yoshi yelled back. He was getting the upper hand of the fight, his control over his rage being more powerful than Saki's, allowing him to concentrate on his fighting.

"She is mine! Once I get rid of you, she will be mine! Only mine!"

Yoshi was about to give Saki a finishing blow when a voice called out to him.

"Yoshi!"

Tang Shen had reached the dojo. Yoshi risked turning his head to face her standing at the doorway in shock. That was a fatal mistake.

Saki impaled through Yoshi's torso and out through his back, fresh metallic blood coating the blades. Blood spilled to the floor as Yoshi fell limp in Saki's cold embrace, his katana dropping to the floor from his hand.

Saki stood frozen, panting as he still had his hand impaled in Yoshi's body. Yoshi, with little energy, looked up at the man before him and placed a bloody hand onto his face, coating Saki's left cheek with blood.

"W-Why?" was all he said before Saki slowly let his hand slip out of Yoshi, the man collapsing onto the floor. He backed away slowly as he gazed down a the limp man before him.

"Yoshi!" Shen screamed out in agony as she kneeled right beside her husband, tearing a large portion of her yukata and wrapping it around the wound in hopes of stopping the bleeding.

Something inside Saki's mind began to flutter, his vision cleared and the red tint went away, his surroundings glowing by the orange flames. His dark crimson eyes desaturated into the soft cocoa-colored ones he had. He gazed down the man before him in utter shock then gazed down to his blood-covered hands. He could not believe what was in front of him, he could not believe what he had just done.

"No..." he muttered under his breath as he covered his mouth with his hands, further staining his face with red liquid which had begun to dry out into a dark brown color.

"You..." Shen muttered as she grabbed Yoshi's katana from the floor. She picked herself up from the floor, her back turned against Saki. She quickly turned around, her eyes filled with rage and boring holes into Saki. She tightened her grip on the Katana and pointed the blade to the man before her.

"You." She said more clearly as her arm began to shake from the tension of her muscles.

"You will pay for this!" She screamed before lunging forward, striking the blade to Saki who, although still in a daze, quickly moved out of the way to avoid being sliced.

"S-Shen, stop!" He called out but his words fell on deaf ears. Shen was too blinded by her rage to care about the man. She was out for revenge.

"I didn't mean too-" Shen quickly attacked Saki, blow after blow did Saki suffer only blocking the blade, not wanting to harm the woman. She did not let up for a second, she wanted him dead.

"S-Shen, please! I beg- AH!" Shen's blade cut across Saki's left eye, leaving a scar on the skin while leaving the eye unharmed. He put a hand over the cut as he continued to block her attacks.

The fire had finally reached the dojo and was starting to collapse. The support beams began to crack and fall down to the floor.

Shen was ready to give the final blow to Saki, having jumped midair and her hand above her head, she swung her blade down to kill Saki. The support beam above them collapse, the wooden falling between them, trapping each one on either side.

"No!" Shen screamed as she tried to get through to the other side by cutting down the wood. It was too thick and it was too heavy to be lifted.

Saki, stunned but aware of the growing danger decided to flee. He grabbed his helmet that was still on the floor and busted through the door that led to the back garden of the house. He climbed up the stone wall outside the garden and ran all the way up to the forest where he disappeared into the shadows.

Shen was still inside the burning dojo, trying desperately to get through the other side. It was futile and she knew it. She stopped her blows on the wood and turned back to her husband who was struggling to stay alive. She dropped the katana and kneel beside him, prompting him up on her legs, holding his head with her arm.

"S-Shen..." He called out.

"You will be alright... We'll get out of here," She reassured him as she fiddled with the makeshift bandaged, wrapping it tighter around her husband's torso. He put his hand on top of hers, stopping what she was doing.

"N-No... it is already... too late." He told her.

"Don't say that," She said.

"Shen... listen to me..." he placed his hand on her right cheek, her head leaning into the touch as she grabbed the raised arm.

"I can see the rage in your eyes, the desire to take revenge on Saki for what he has done to me..." He gave a dry cough. "Please... do not go... after him."

"But Yoshi-" She was cut off.

"Saki will come after you... to-to make you his..." He explained to her, rubbing away a tear that began to run down her face. "Please... take our sons and flee from this place... so all of you can be safe."

He gave another cough, this time rougher than the last.

"I am... sorry I could not be there for our sons, to watched them grow, but let them know that-" another cough, "that I will always love them, even in death, and that my spirit will always be there to guide and look after them... in the spirit realm."

"Promise me... promise that you will keep them safe." He told her. Shen nodded in agreement as more tears ran down her face, "I promise." She gave him one last kiss goodbye.

"I love you." He told her. His head slowly turned to look up at the ceiling, finally succumbing to his death. "I love you all."

Yoshi's hand fell from Shen's face to the floor, his face going pale, his eyes losing the little sign of life he had left.

"Yoshi?"

He gave no response.

"No..."

She buried her head into his chest, holding him close to her as more tears ran down her charcoaled cheeks.

"NO!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, breaking down and sobbing uncontrollably.

Slowly, the fire became out of control, the amount of carbon dioxide in the air finally making it hard for Shen to continue being in the dojo. Reluctantly, she had to leave him to the fire. He set him down gently onto the floor, putting his hands over his chest, and slowly closing his eyelids. She bent down to kiss him one more time on the forehead before getting up and running out of the dojo.

"Sayonara... Hamato Yoshi."

* * *

Days had passed since the fire had destroyed the Hamato Clan. There was still no sign of who or what caused the fire but that was not the main concern for the Hamato family. A funeral was being planned for those who perished in the fire, which included Yuta and Yoshi and the fallen Hamato ninjas that had been slain by the Foot ninjas.

Shen was sitting on the elevated deck that led to the small garden in the temporary home she and Amaya had gotten as they looked for a new home for the rest of the Hamato family. She hadn't seen the rest of the family since the local firefighters came to put out the flames, by that point the rest of the family had been taken to the local hospitals to receive attention for the injuries and burns they suffered. Luckily this served in her favor for a plan she has in her mind that she needed to discuss with Amaya.

Next, to her lay her sons inside a large baby cradle, snuggled together as they slept peacefully under a large soft gray colored blanket. She watched them intently as their chest rose up and down in a similar rhythm. She sighed and softly guided her figures across the soft cheek of Michelangelo, who smiled at the warm touch.

"Shen," someone called out. Tang Shen turned her body to face the owner of the voice, Amaya had come into the small living room with a tray in her hands, a teapot with two empty cups on top of it. She walked over to Shen and set the tray down in between her, taking a seat herself on the elevated deck. She poured the tea inside the cups and handed one to the woman next to her.

"Thank you," Shen said softly, taking a sip of the warm leaf water. She let the cup rest in her hands on top of her legs as she went back to stare at the vibrant green vegetation.

"We have finally picked a day for the funeral, it's going to be a week from today," Amaya said, taking another sip of her drink. "We will be inviting everyone to come. I have managed to get in contact with Saki, after all these years, and he will also come to the funeral."

"I do not think I will be there," Shen stated, much to the surprise of Amaya.

"Why not?" She asked her.

"I have been meditating for the past few days about this and..." She took a slight pause, "I will be leaving Japan." She finished.

"What?! Leaving Japan?! Y-You cannot simply leave, w-what about the clan?!" Amaya argued, freaked out by the sudden choice of action.

"The clan died alongside Yuta!" She argued back.

"B-But why? Why leave Japan?" Amaya questioned her more calmy.

Shen took a moment to chose her words carefully. As of this moment, no one knew what really happened to Yuta and Yoshi, who had killed them. Yoshi's words ran through her head like a broken record, glaring back at her sons who were still fast asleep in the cradle. She turned her head back to Amaya.

"Saki, he... he was the one who started the fire, he was the reason why Yuta and Yoshi didn't survive." She explained.

"What?" Amaya said in utter shock and disbelief. "T-That cannot be, right? Can it?"

"It is true! Saki came to the house and set fire to it as a way to get to Yuta. When I went back to look for Yoshi, I saw his severed head on the floor as Saki had impaled Yoshi with his blade." She further explained, anger building up in her voice as she began to relive the memory.

"B-But why would he do such a thing and what does that have anything to do with you leaving Japan?" More questions rose from the answers.

"I... I don't know." Shen lowered her head, averting the strong gaze that Amaya had on her. "But Yoshi told me to flee Japan with our sons." She answered vaguely, not wanting to explain everything to Amaya.

"Why?" She questioned.

"I do not know why but I'm going to heed his words. In a few days, I will be leaving and taking all of Yoshi's and my belongings with me." Shen stated affirmatively. Amaya knew by the tone of her voice, there was no chance of getting Shen to change her mind. She was too stubborn just like her son. She only nodded in response.

"There is also something I need you to do for me," Shen stated, Amaya, giving her her full attention. "I need you to tell everyone I perished in the fire, including Saki."

Amaya was taken aback by this, "B-But-" she wanted to reason with Shen but was cut off by her.

"Please, do not ask questions and do it for me. Help me fake my death so that I may be safe with my sons once I flee Japan. Please, for my sons." She begged, holding Amaya's hands in her own to further convince her.

Amaya knew she had no other choice. She sighed in defeat, "I will help you."

"Thank you."

They both embraced each other, holding on tightly to one another knowing this might be the last time they will see each other.

* * *

**Three Years Later**

Three years had passed since that dark night back in Japan. Tang Shen had heeded Yoshi's words and fled Japan, deciding to settle down in the city she and Yoshi had wanted to visit. New York City. She works as a secretary for a simple office company since she had immigrated. She works only to sustain her growing family. During the day, her sons would be sent to daycare while she worked and picked them up in the afternoon to go home, make dinner, and put them to bed to be ready for the next day. On occasions, she would surprise them with going out to someplace like the local playground or go buy ice cream. Today was one of those days.

She had taken her sons to Central Park to have fun at the many playgrounds found there. She mostly let her sons have their fun on their own but would join them if they tell her too. The sight of the bright smiles of her sons brought her joy and peace of mind. During that time they had run into her sons' best friend April O'Neil who lived in the same apartment complex as them on the fourth floor. The five kids all went to the same daycare so they are quite acquainted with each other.

It was already dusk, the sun was starting to slowly set into slumber. The world around covered in a bright orange glow contrasted by purple shadows. Tang Shen sat on a bench while her sons continued to play near one of the many ponds. Leonardo and Donatello were together feeding the ducks seeds while Raphael and Michelangelo played a game of tag in the grass.

"I'm gonna get you!" Raphael warned his orange clothed brother was running away from his older brother.

"Nuh-uh!" The younger brother responded confidently.

They ran for a good while, both trying their hardest to either tag or not be tagged. The red-clothed brother began to tire out from the constant running. When it came to tag, he could never catch up to Mikey. He runs like there is no tomorrow. The younger one stops in his tracks as he sees his brother catching his breath.

"Haha! I win!" He calls out triumphantly, his arms shooting up to the air and expressing the biggest grin on his small chubby face. Something softly hits his foot and looks down to find a turtle walking through the fairly tall grass. Immediately forgetting about his victory, he bends down to pick up the reptile.

"Hey, Lil' buddy! Wanna play with us?" He greeted the small reptile, bringing it up close to his face. He quickly runs over to his brother, "Look, Raph! I found a turtle!" He shows him the small reptile.

"Cool! Let's go, show mom!" Raph said excitedly as both boys ran over to their mother who was sitting peacefully on the bench

"Mom look! We found a turtle!" Mikey exclaimed as he showed his mother the small reptile in his hands. His more idyll brothers heard his statement and got up from the ground to also look at the animal.

"A turtle, huh? I've never seen one up close before." Shen said as she inspected the animal in her son's hands.

"What kind of turtle is it?" Raphael questioned curiously grabbing it from his brother's hands and inspecting it. It was then snatched by his slightly younger brother, Donatello.

"I think it's a red-eared slider!" He stated as he pointed out the red stripe near the turtle's eyes.

"Look! It's got a blue and green eye!" Leonardo pointed out as he too grabbed the reptile. "They're kinda pretty.

"Mom, can we keep it?!" The youngest asked their mother, putting on his usual puppy eyes which he uses to convince his mother of getting a new toy.

"I'm sorry Michelangelo but you know we can't have pets at home." She told him softly, ruffling his hair in comfort.

She looks down at the watched on her left arm and looks at the time. She stands up from the bench and grabs the turtle from her son's hands.

"It's getting late. We should all head home now. But first," she walks over to the pond and kneels down before the water letting the turtle crawl into the water. "Let's return this little guy back to the water."

She stands up before carrying her youngest son in one arm, grabbing the hand of her eldest in the other.

"Let's go, I don't want you boys staying up too late." She starts walking in the direction of her home.

"Bye, little turtle," Michelangelo says as he waves the tiny animal farewell, his brothers following suit much to the amusement of their mother.

* * *

It was already dark and they were just a few streets from their home which wasn't very far from the downtown area. People were still up and some were on the streets. Michelangelo had fallen asleep on top of his mother's arm while the other three were barely able to stay awake, rubbing their eyes and giving loud tired yawns.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she spotted something bright hurdling its way up into the sky. At first, she thought it was merely fireworks but the stream of smoke seemed too thick and dense. She continued to walk down the street, glancing back at the light that just kept going higher and higher into the sky with no sign of stopping. Then the light disappeared.

**BOOM!**

The sky burst into a flash of bright orange as it was accompanied by the sound of an explosion. This startled everyone who was on the street and the people in their homes. They all glanced back up to the sky to find the sudden orange hue turn into a bright teal one.

A small teal droplet of goo landed on Shen's hand and began sizzling on contact with the skin. She shook it off only to be hit with another droplet. The droplet picked up and more kept raining down on them. Soon large splashes came falling towards the ground like someone had thrown a bucket of water.

Shen and her sons were covered in the strange glowing teal ooze which only sizzled on their skin. Soon enough, the ooze began seeping its way into their skin, reacting with the muscle, veins, cells inside. It felt like they were burning up, their blood boiling to an unimaginable degree. Closing their eyes, they tried to forget about the pain.

Their bodies began to warp, bones shifted inside and their skin becoming green. Even their hair fell off their bodies. It was painful, excruciating even. Their back and torso began to grow hard, the skin hardening into like a piece of armor. Their backs grew in size, ripping out of their clothes as it became a dark teal shell.

Suddenly the pain stopped. They all opened their eyes only to be shocked at the sight. The teal ooze that had rained from the sky had mutated their bodies in a strange way. They were mutated into turtles.

"W-What?" Shen gazed in fear at her appearance but to the appearance of her sons as well.

"Monsters." Someone yelled out. An old lady from her apartment window who had watched what had just transpired.

"Monsters!" She yelled out again, this time louder and more fearful.

"Monsters!" A man from another window yelled out.

Shen looked around to find she wasn't the only one. The people who were walking on the street like she had to been mutated into animals. They too did not seem to realize what had just happened but knew the fear around them.

"Monsters! Someone go get them!" someone yelled out.

Suddenly, a man bursting through a door to one of the buildings with a shotgun in hand.

"Kill them before they hurt us!" Another yelled out to the man.

"No, wait, please!" One of the mutants begged the man but it was no use. The man opened fire at all the mutants on the street, a couple of bullets being directed at Shen and her sons. She quickly dodged the bullets and grabbed her sons and ran away from the scene, hopefully, able to reach her apartment without other people noticing.

"Ah!" Shen cried out as she felt one of the bullets hit her left leg. She tripped and fell to the ground, her sons quickly huddling worryingly around her. She got up from the ground and continued running, the adrenaline running inside her body quickly numbing the pain.

Even if her home was just streets away, she could see the chaos suddenly brewing in the streets as she got closer. Police kept pouring from every road and neutralized all the mutants they could find, shooting some out of the fear of being presented with what indeed looked like monsters. The last street to her home was blocked off by numerous police cars.

"Halt!" A policeman shouted as he had his gun aimed at Tang Shen and her sons. Without thinking twice, she swept up her sons in her arms and made a break for it, heading in the opposite direction she came, avoiding the gunshots of the police as he tried to stop her.

"We got a runner!" The police said to the other cops around him as they began chasing after the mutant turtle.

Shen ran as fast as she could, especially with four kids in her arms. She rounded a corner and entered into one of the alleys only to find it to be a dead end. She was about to head back out but stopped when she heard the distant sounds of footsteps from the cops coming closer to her. There was nothing to hide in the alley, no garbage tank to enter or fire escapes to climb on to. She was going to get caught.

Her foot stepped on something metal, gazing down she was on top a manhole. She was hesitant of the idea that popped in her head but realized she had no other choice.

"Check the alley!" One of the cops said.

She took a large gulp before opening the metal lid, tossing it aside to let her sons down the hole one by one before entering herself. After they had all entered, she closed the lid before the police found them in the alley.

Finally, she was allowed a moment of peace after what happened just 20 minutes earlier, but that peace was short-lived before the pain in her leg finally settled in. She yelped in pain as she dropped down to the dirty concrete of the sewer walkway, giving her sons a scare.

"Mom!" The boys called out to her.

"I-I'm fine. Just a scratch," She reassured them, stroking her youngest's cheek with her hand.

Looking at her wound, she found the bullet to have gone through her leg much to her luck. Grabbing what was left of her coat, she tore a long strip and wrapped it tightly around her wound to stop any more bleeding and from catching an infection. After tying a knot that would probably cut her circulation, she got up from the ground to peak through the lid of the manhole. More police had swarmed the area, making it impossible to escape.

She slowly closed the lid, her gaze following upon her sons who were petrified with fear, hugging and clinging on to each other. Michelangelo was the most frightened, tears steadily streaming down his now bluish-green skin. He was being comforted by his eldest brother, Leonardo, who seemed to be the least frightened by was still pretty shaken by the events. Donatello and Raphael stuck close together, both not frightened more than the other.

She sat down again and went to carry her youngest in her arms, slowly soothing and rocking him. She slowly brought the others to her side, Donatello and Raphael coming to rest on her right side while Leonardo rested on the other. They held her close and she soothed them from the fear.

A gunshot came from the surface, accompanied by a screech of agony. It startled the turtles in the sewers, causing the children to bury deeper into their mother's embrace, the fear-instilling inside them once again.

"It's alright my son. I'm here." She reassured them.

They all sat in silence, the commotion from above not fading one bit, in fact, getting louder as the minutes went on.

"Mom?" Leonardo broke the silence.

"Yes, my son?"

"Why... why did this happened?"

She stayed silent, unsure of what to tell her son, she was unsure herself about what had happened.

"I... I do not know. I simply do not know." She answered truthfully. Leonardo simply laid his head back on her chest. For a three-year-old, he was wise beyond his years. Merely just a child, he understood many things that only older kids could barely grasp. He definitely inherited that from his father.

The others didn't utter a word as they stayed huddled together. They stayed silent once more.

* * *

About an hour had passed by and the commotion from the streets still raged on. Policemen were everywhere and anywhere and mutants kept getting captured by them. It was unsafe to go up there, especially for Tang Shen and her sons. They needed to find a place that would be safe enough for them to rest. A place that was a bit more... sanitary. Although growing used to its awful stench, it was still unpleasant and who knows what kind of bad bacteria or diseases laid inside.

Tang Shen had wandered the sewers, desperately trying to find shelter. Michelangelo and Raphael were soundly asleep on top of Tang Shen. She used what was left of her coat to make a makeshift carrier to have Raphael sleep atop her back while she carried her youngest in one arm. Her other arm held Leonardo's while he held Donatello's hand.

It had been an arduous walk through the maze-like sewers. Everything looked the same, making it easy to get lost but Tang Shen had a good sense of memory to make sure she didn't go into a circle. Shen was sure she was far away from her home but knew it to be safer. She didn't want to risk getting caught.

She walked close to the grimy tunnel wall, trying hard to avoid stepping in the infectious water. They managed to keep themselves dry and, to their luck, the ugly sewer water slowly disappeared from the tunnel, allowing Tang Shen and her sons to walk more comfortably with the added space between them.

Tang Shen glared down the tunnel to spot glimpses of light at the end. Hope flared up inside her and quickened her pace towards the light, Leonardo and Donatello almost tripping over each other by the sudden speed. The light grew larger and closer as she continued to walk. The light became blinding as she finally reached it, closing her eyes from the brightness. She quickly adjusted and finally saw what was beyond the light.

In front of her stood an open circular tunnel that reached up to 3 stories to the surface where it was topped off with what looked like a large broken fan, the pieces between letting in the moon's still bright light down into the tunnel. Each floor had tunnel entrances that led to the rest of the sewers.

The open space was littered with things that Shen didn't expect to be down in the sewers. There was a decent-sized mattress with a pillow and blankets near the far wall of the opening. Right next to the mattress was a single burner portable stove that still seemed to be functioning. It was connected to an outlet that was in the brick wall. It seemed some homeless person was down here before her and left their stuff.

Shen cleared off the dust that had built up upon the bed before laying Michelangelo and Raphael down onto the mattress. The dust giving her a sign that it had been abandoned for a while, reassuring her that no one would come by the tunnel. She soon brought her other sons to lay down on the bed right next to the others. Immediately, Donatello succumbed to his exhaustion, closing his eyes the second his body rested on the mattress. Leonardo was the last to fall asleep, watching over his mother and his brothers before allowing himself to rest. Shen laid next to her sons on the right side of the mattress before picking up the blanket and covering them.

She placed a gentle hand on top of her youngest's cheek and rubbed her thumb over it. She finally got a good look at her son's after their mutation. Each one sported different patterns on their different tones of green skin but each pattern was in the same place as the others. Michelangelo sported bright oranges spots on his face and limbs. Large circles were visible on his triceps, his cheeks, his eyelids and where his eyebrows would be. Tiny almost splattered spots on his face imitated freckles. Raphael sported thick red stripes that tapered at the ends. His eyelids covered with crimson color and flakes out into a thick wing, like heavy eyeliner. Donatello sported thick purple rectangular patterns, his triceps having a large cluster of it. Like Michelangelo, he had a slight stripe where his eyebrows would be. Lastly, Leonardo sported more relaxed thick blue stripes like Raphael. His eyelids were too filled in but the wing was much shorter than his younger brother.

Shen was amazed at their appearance, even though with the sudden change in form, she could still see that they were her sons. That they were _his_ sons.

She let out a deep sigh before sitting up from the mattress. There was much that was going around in her mind at that moment. Her mind kept going back to the explosion. It was so sudden and yet, she felt like she could've protected her sons from being exposed to that strange ooze. Huddling them under her while she let herself be exposed, taking on the mutation herself. Aside from that, the chaos that had occurred a mere seconds after. People began to fear for themselves, jumping to assumptions of what happened to the people caught in the blast. Going so far as to do harm, or even kill.

Just like how the saying goes; _"People fear what they do not understand."_

She quickly shook her head, clearing those thoughts out of her mind, she had other priorities to take care of first. With the amount of police in the streets, she had a feeling she won't be going back home anytime soon. She had made a mental checklist for herself; first, going back to her apartment, second, grab everything she deemed useful to her and her sons while they house themselves in this sewer tunnel for the time being.

Shen moved the blanket to fully cover her sons' bodies before standing up from the mattress.

"Mom?"

Shen turned to find Leonardo fully awake and sitting up on the mattress, Donatello having his arms wrapped around him.

"Leonardo," She said softly, kneeling down next to her son on the grime-filled concrete. "I'm going to head out to bring back some supplies we are going to need down here." She explained.

"We're not going home?" He asked sadly.

"I'm afraid not, at least, not for a little while." She admitted.

Leonardo lowered his head down slightly, upset about their current situation. Shen lifted her son's head back up with her hand, their now completely different colored eyes meeting. While her's stayed bright chocolate, Leonardo's had turned to a very deep but beautiful blue. She was immediately reminded of that turtle her sons had played with at the park, one eye was green while the other was blue. That is probably where the new color came from.

"Don't be sad, I'm sure everything will be alright." She cheered him up. "Look, I'm going to be gone for a few hours okay. Whatever you do, do not leave this place until I get back. Do you understand?"

"Yes, mom." He said.

"I will be back as soon as I can." She reassured him, planting a kiss on the top of his forehead. "Now go back to sleep, you need your rest." She tucked him back into the mattress, pulling the blanket back on his body as he slowly drifted back to slumber.

She stood up before heading back into the tunnel that she had emerged from before.

* * *

The chaos the city had been engulfed in just a few hours prior did not let up. Tang Shen had been making her way back to her home by running over the rooftops of buildings, seeing as the streets were still bustling with mutants and cops trying to round them up. Fortunately for her, they did not seem to take a glance up to the roofs. Maneuvering from rooftop to rooftop was quite a challenge but a challenge that Tang She could appreciate at that moment, allowing her body to welcome the exercise she had missed. As she moved, she discovered that the strange ooze had enhanced her abilities. She felt herself move faster, feel how stronger her legs were every time she jumped across buildings, feeling how much her endurance had been increased. It was an unexpected change but one she did appreciate.

She had made it back to her neighborhood rather easily, the chaos from before having died down and moved to another area of the city. The windows were dark and the streets were quiet. She landed on the roof of her apartment building before heading down the fire escape until she reached her apartment. She grabbed hold of the bottom part of the window, pulling it up in an attempt to get herself inside. To her shock, the lock of the window broke in a matter of seconds and the window went slamming up just as quick, the glass nearly shattering from the impact. Luckily it didn't alert anyone and Tang Shen went inside.

She looked around her apartment, it was rather large than most others and it was fully littered with toys, crayons, backpacks from her sons. She quickly made her way to her bedroom where she remembered having a luggage bag in her closet. She slammed open her closet door before digging out everything inside. She managed to find the luggage bag buried deep beneath all the things she had brought over from Japan. Opening the bag, weapons of all kind were stuffed inside. How she managed to bring them to the states was beyond her but did not complain, she knew she would need them.

Taking the bag with her, she walked out of the room before immediately heading over to the kitchen. Without a second thought, she grabbed everything from the cabinets and placed them inside the bag. Taking out a mobile cooler from the small pantry, she dumped all the food she had inside the fridge inside it. Placing ice cubes inside it to maintain its temperature for the time being.

After emptying out the kitchen, Shen looked inside the bag to find it has some space left inside it. She decided to scavenge everything from the bathroom, grabbing the first aid kit from inside and all medication she thought she would need. After that, the luggage bag was full. She zipped it up and placed it right next to the open window.

She returned to her own room to find a medium-sized backpack inside her closet as well. Though, not as big as the luggage bag, she decided to fill it up with more stuff she thought she would need. She grabbed her sewing kit and placed some of her clothing inside the backpack.

Next, she exited her room to go into her sons' bedroom. The room was small but still large enough to sport two bunk beds, each bed being colored coded for each son. Blue for Leonardo, red for Raphael, purple for Donatello, and orange for Michelangelo. Between the bunk beds stood a drawer and a small bucket filled with toys. She immediately opened the drawer and grabbed everything she could from inside and stuffing it in the backpack. She grabbed some toys that could fit inside before heading back out to the living room.

She looked around once more to find that there was much she wanted to bring with her. Perhaps another trip would be in order, the night was still young and she should have time for another trip before the sun rises. But right now she needed to head back to her sons. She moved each bag out the window and onto the fire escape before going out herself. She slowly closed the window before heading back up to the roof. Putting on the backpack and grabbing both the luggage and small cooler in each hand, she made her way back to her sons.

By the time the sun had risen, Tang Shen had already made two more trips to her apartment, taking with her everything inside. The apartment was left with barely anything inside besides the furniture like the couch and the beds. Though, she did manage to bring back with her two of the four kids mattresses her sons used surprisingly. She would decide to get the other two the following night. For now, her time had run out.

After her allnighter bringing her things to her family's new home, she immediately crashed onto the mattress that her sons were still sleeping on. She took a second to gaze at her sons who were sleeping peacefully, their breathing all in rhythm but at different tempos. She still couldn't believe her eyes, her sons were now mutants and so was she. There was still much she does not understand but she pushes off her wonders to the back of her mind as she began to drift away into slumber. Her last thought lingering on in her head.

_"What happened to us?"_

* * *

Over the next few years were years of building. The large sewer tunnel the Hamato family had found ultimately became their new home. The sewer tunnel was reconstructed into a more habitable environment. There were a functional kitchen and bathroom, each turtle had their own bedrooms thanks to the closed-off tunnels on the upper floors and a dojo.

The dojo was one of the first rooms to be constructed within their new home. With the realization of what is happening in the world above, Tang Shen knew about the dangers her sons would face and took it upon herself to train them in the art of ninjutsu. The dojo was designed to mimic the one she trained in back in Japan, to show her sons what life was like back in Japan and to remind them of their roots. Once the dojo had been completed, the rest of the tunnel became home shortly after.

The sewers became their home. But the sewers were not just home to them, it became home to other mutants.

The surface feared mutants and they were forced into hiding down into wherever humans dared not go. Subway stations, the sewers, it became a new home for many. All mutants banded together to create a small civilization underneath the grand city of New York. Working day and night, they reconstructed the sewers to create an underground city, a city for mutants. They established order and worked together to provide everything everyone needed to survive. Scavenger groups were formed to head up to the surface and to bring back food, electronics, and basic necessities for the rest. Only the best-skilled mutants could be in those groups. Others grouped together to farm food, install electricity, and to build the city up. Everyone had an important role they played and played it they did.

While most stayed in the relative safety of the city, a few decided to stay on their own, like Tang Shen and her sons. She would come to the city to get supplies but she would usually go to the surface and scavenge herself. At first, it was only her but once her sons got old enough she would bring them along on her trips to the surface.

They would travel the entire city by roof, running across the tops of buildings to travel the city without a trace. They always traveled at night, sticking to the shadows as real ninjas would. They would hit the local dumps to find any salvageable goodies or go to the local junkyard to find parts or new things to bring home or farmers market to see if they find some food that was forgotten. On other occasions, they would just scavenge through the garbage cans in the alleys. Disgusting as it sounds, you would be surprised at the things they find in dumpsters. In one, in particular, was a gold mine, a treasure chest, a vault filled with goodies. Goodies that raised suspicion.

For a time, this dumpster, which was located in the nicer neighborhoods of the city, began to have things that wouldn't normally be in a dumpster. Things like unopened canned foods or slightly worn but clean clothes would appear. This raised suspicion between the turtle family but still accepted the unusual things because hey, free stuff.

It was a quiet night again in the city, Tang Shen and her sons were out and about roaming the city, searching for things to bring home. They had already hit the dump but came back empty-handed. They decided to hit up the special dumpster to see if it had any goodies inside it.

After running for a good while, they made it to the dumpster. They head down the alley using the fire escape and all huddle around the dumpster. Tang Shen opened up the lid of the tank until it rested upon the brick wall behind it. She turned to her sons.

"Donatello, Raphael, you two go and check the other trash cans. Leonardo, keep watch of the street, make sure no one's coming. Michelangelo and I will check inside." She said before getting down to business.

Both the middle children went to work on checking all the other trash cans, ripping open the trash bags inside. Leonardo scurried off to the edge of the alley that led to the sidewalk, peering out the corners to keep watch. Tang Shen had ripped open one of the trashed bags to find the goodies she had suspected there to be. This time inside the bag were cans of tomato soup alongside a box of half-eaten cereals.

"Cool! There's Cocoa Puffs!" The youngest turtle exclaimed excitedly, catching the attention of his other brothers who too got excited by the sudden goodie.

"Have you boys found anything?" Tang Shen asked her middle children as they continue to rip open trash bags.

"Nada! We're still looking!" The red turtle replied back.

"Leonardo! See anyone coming?!" She turned her attention to her eldest son who was still keeping watch on the street.

Step

Shen froze in place, her highly trained ears hearing the very faint sound of a shoe meeting the still wet concrete from the rains of yesterday. While her sons could not hear it, she heard it clear as day.

"Nope! The streets are quiet!" Leonardo replied as he turned his attention back to her mother.

Step... Step...

Leonardo caught a glimpse of a silhouette behind his mother, slowly creeping up behind her. In a panic, he warned her, "Mom, behind you!"

Shen was quick with her reflexes and grabbed hold of the person behind her, punching them in the face and grabbing hold of their neck as she pushed them up against the wall. Her sons quickly came to her side, weapons in hand, ready to help their mother fend off the perpetrator.

It was a human, a man with bright red-orange hair, sporting a large pair of thick square-framed glasses. He was dressed in a long sleeve button up with a sweater on top paired some khaki pants and some old brown dress shoes. Look of the man felt familiar to the grown turtle but thought nothing of it. Tang Shen was about to make her move against the man but was stopped by the sudden light of a flashlight.

"Dad!" a high pitched voice called out.

Shen turned around to find the voice belonging to a young girl with long red-orange hair who stood beside a middle-aged woman with short brown hair. Upon first glance to the woman, something inside Shen's mind went off, like she had seen this woman before.

"Kirby!" The woman called out.

"Kirby?" Shen repeated before looking back to the man before her. Within the light, Tang Shen saw the man clearly and immediately recognized the man. It was Kirby O'Neil, her old neighbor, and father to her son's best friend back when they were still human.

She immediately let the man go as he fell to the floor, gasping for much-needed air. Both woman and child ran over to the man, checking on him for any injuries.

Tang Shen took a step back before calling out, "Mary?"

Said woman raised her head up to face the mutant turtle and just like Shen, she immediately recognized the voice of the turtle.

"Tang Shen?" She said unsurely. "I-Is that you?"

"Y-Yes. It's me." Shen confirmed as she took down her hood, revealing her mutant face to the human.

"Oh my goodness, it's you," Mary said aloud before wrapping her arms tightly around her. "You're alive!"

"S-Shen?! T-that was you?! You're still alive?!" Kirby questioned, surprised by the sudden reveal. He stood up from the ground as he took a good look at the mutant before him.

"Y-Yes, I'm alive." She said, being free from the bone-crushing hug from Mary.

Kirby and Mary O'Neil were, as now stated, old neighbors and the parents to her sons' old friend April. From the time she had known them, Kirby was a scientist working in biogenetic research for a small research company while Mary was a famous news anchor for Channel 6 News.

"Mom, you know these guys?" Leonardo spoke, earning the attention of the three humans before them.

"Yes, they were our neighbors and parents to your friend April, remember?" She explained.

The said friend came to the forefront of the reunion to take a closer look at the small mutants.

"Leo? Raph? Donnie? Mikey?" She called out their names.

"April?" They said questioningly.

The four turtles came closer to the human girl. Upon viewing her hair and her soft features, the immediately recognize their old friend from many years ago.

"April!" They call out as they ran in to embrace her.

"We missed you!" Mikey said.

"I missed you guys too!" She replied as she returned the hug.

"I can't believe it. You guys have been alive all this time." Mary said before turning to her husband, "And you said they weren't." She slapped her husband's arm.

"You never know, there are many possibilities!" Kirby defended himself.

"I'm just glad you three were able to stay free from the bomb," Shen stated. "It seemed like I had no luck."

"We're just glad you're alive," Mary replied.

"Why don't you all come inside and warm yourselves up a bit? I'll serve you some of our leftover dinners," Mary offered the mutant.

"Really, it is not necessary-"

"We insist! At least for your boys." Mary insisted, gesturing her hand to the smaller turtles who were blabbing about with April.

"Alright." She gave in as she and her sons were escorted up to the O'Neil apartment.

* * *

"So you have been the ones leaving behind those items for us to take," Shen said as she took a spoonful of reheated beef stew into her mouth.

"We started noticing our trash became missing a while ago and we got suspicious. It was only when April heard you five rummaging through the dumpster one night that we figured out who it was. At first, we didn't recognize it was you and thought it was just a couple of random mutants but we felt pity so we ended up putting things that we thought would be helpful." Mary explained as she served the boys another round of stew.

"Well, I'm glad you did. Those things really did help." Shen said with a warm smile to which the woman gladly returned.

* * *

"Thank you for the meal, it was delicious." Tang Shen thanked the married couple after chowing down three bowls of beef stew. The empty bowls were picked up by both human adults and set inside the sink to be washed the next morning.

"Yeah! It was really good!" Raphael complimented with his brothers agreeing.

"I told you guys my mom made the best beef stew in the city!" April bragged. She had taken a seat right beside them while they ate to continue their conversation.

"April, why don't you guys go play in the living room. The adults wanna talk." Kirby suggested to his daughter who immediately got out her chair and began dragging her mutants friends to said room. April was very bright and mature for her age, making her almost a mini adult if it wasn't for her very outgoing personality. She was raised to respect those older than her and to not be nosy, unlike most kids. She knew the conversation that her parents were going to have so she left, possibly having the same conversation with the boys.

Kirby and Mary took a seat in the chairs right in front of Shen.

"It's been so long since we've seen you. Over four years it's been." Mary started.

"Yes, it has been long," Shen said.

"What's happened during that time for you? How did you get mutated?" Mary asked curiously.

"A lot has happened since the M-Bomb went off. I was walking home with my sons when we were caught in the blast. Since then we went into hiding and made a home down in the sewers. We met with other mutants who ended up creating a small city underground, quite impressive if you ask me. We've been scavenging for many years upon the surface for food or anything we can use to make our lives easier." Shen explained.

"That would explain the smell," Kirby mumbled under his breath, getting a small slap to the arm from his wife as a result.

"You said there was an underground city, is that where most of the mutants went?" Mary questioned.

"Yes, most banded together to survive and in doing so constructed a small city in the sewers for everyone to live in and for welcoming newcomers. It's quite impressive, we have electricity, somewhat clean water with amateur plumbing, some farming is done too, and a lot of other stuff. There are also groups who go out to the surface and scavenge for whatever is running short in supply like food." Shen answered.

"I'm guessing living there isn't so bad," Kirby commented.

"We don't actually live in there but we do go down there often." Shen corrected.

"It's fascinating to know that you mutants have been able to survive for so long like that. Especially without getting attention from the EPF." Mary said.

"The EPF?" Shen questioned, an eyebrow or brow ridge rising up.

"You haven't heard?" Mary was surprised at the question.

"What is it? Is it something bad?"

"The Earth Protection Force, EPF for short, is a highly classified government organization that is currently going around the world capturing every mutant it can for research and investigation on the events of the M-Bomb," Kirby explained.

"Around the world? New York wasn't the only one hit?"

"Afraid not. Major cities around the world were hit with the M-Bomb which caused massive quarantines and massive fluxes of migration." Kirby answered.

"All the world's governments issued the EPF to go and capture all the mutants around the world in hopes of figuring out who or what caused the bombs in the first place," Mary added. "Unfortunately, nothing has sprung up on that. The EPF only knows how the mutagen works."

"How do you know all of this?"

"I work for one of the EPF research facilities here in the state. I study the genetic code of each mutant and figure out how the mutagen has affected each one of them." Kirby stated.

"How many mutants have been captured?" Shen questioned.

"From all the people gone missing since the bomb, taking account the animal mutants, the EPF has gathered nearly 89% of all the mutants," Kirby answered.

"That much in such a short amount of time?!" Shen blurted out, nearly standing up from her chair.

"The EPF does not joke around when it comes to their job," Kirby said. "I'm surprised there are still mutants left in the city."

"It seems we'll have to be more vigilant when coming up to the surface," Shen commented under her breath.

"Be extra careful when going to the eastside, since that's had the most mutants sightings and captures. I would recommend avoiding the place entirely if you could. These nicer neighborhoods should be a safe zone since no mutant has been sighted here." Kirby warned the turtle.

"I will," Shen stated. She looked up to the clock that was hung up on the kitchen wall to find it already past midnight. She stood up from the chair.

"It's time for us to go. Thank you for your hospitality." She started making her way towards the living room but was stopped by Mary grabbing her arm.

"Wait!" She said. She immediately got out a trash bag out from the cabinets and went around through the pantry and started putting in everything she grabbed inside the bag. She then moved on to another room in the house, out of sight of Tang Shen. She came back a few minutes later with the bag nearly full.

"Here, take this with you," She offered the mutant turtle as she handed her the trash bag. "It has more food, clothes, and a first aid kit with some medicine."

"I-I can't take this, I already have the bag that you left in the dumpster," Shen said as she pushed the bag to Mary who only forced the bag inside the turtle's hands.

"We want to help you and your sons. If it were up to us, we would even let you stay in our home but we can't. This is the least we could do." Mary insisted.

"Take it, for your sons," Kirby said.

Shen sighed as she gave in to the humans, taking hold of the trash bag alongside the one she already had.

"Thank you, for everything." Shen smiled gratefully at them. She was wrapped around the arms of both humans as they said: "You're welcome."

"If you ever need anything, come over anytime. We'll make sure to have things for you." Mary said, her hands resting upon Shen's shoulders.

"Thank you."

Shen made her way to the living room and called out to her sons who came to her side. They opened up the window that led to a fire escape. Shen turned around to face the family, "Thank you again for the meal and everything else."

"It's no problem," Kirby responded.

"Bye guys. It was nice seeing you guys again," April bid the turtles farewell as they each gave her a hug.

"Us too," Donnie replied, wrapping his long arms around her. He may only be two years younger than her but he was still bigger than her.

"Let's go, my sons," Shen said before grabbing each turtle and sending them through the window to the fire escape where they began ascending the rusty metal stairs to the roof. Once each turtle was through, she went through the window with both trash bags in hand, walking up the stairs to the roof.

The O'Neil family watched from the open window as the mutant family disappeared as they moved away on the rooftops.

"Stay safe out there."

* * *

A harsh winter had passed and came a beautiful spring. While there were still small hills of snow throughout the city, the temperature was warm enough to stash away the bulky winter gear.

The night was calm and the full moon was out, surrounded by stars. This site was always rare to see. There was a small breeze which made the already chilly night more chiller but it wasn't anything too unbearable.

Tang Shen had taken her sons out of the sewers for the first time since the winter season had become worse with its annual storms. They mostly stuck to traveling the city through the sewers but climbed up ground to continue to their destination. The junkyard.

The heaters they had down in the sewers had broken down a couple of nights ago, leaving the turtles to huddle together for warmth. After inspection, they came to find one of the parts had become damaged. Though the part in question was easy to fix.

They made it to the junkyard, climbing over the wooden fence to get inside. Hills upon hills of discarded junk laid around, collecting dust and rust. It all may seem like trash to a regular person but for a mutant, it is a gold mine.

"Alright, let's go look for that part. Don't stray too far away." Shen said before starting their search.

An hour had passed by, searching through each hill for the part they needed with no luck. While Shen and Donatello were looking for the part, the rest of her sons were playing tag with each other. A simple game they all played frequently but one that had its benefits. It required you to avoid the tagger no matter what, your speed and agility were put to the test. Tang Shen would use this game for training on occasion.

"Tag! I win!" Leonardo shouted in triumph as he finally caught his red-clad brother.

"Hey no fair, you cheated!" Raphael protested, pointing a finger at the champion.

Leonardo only scoffed, "Not my fault you're too slow!"

"Show off!" Raphael retorted back, getting an adorable giggle from his youngest brother Michelangelo.

"Looks like they're fighting again," Donatello stated after overhearing the argument.

"Leave them be. They'll get over it." Shen reassured the purple turtle who immediately got back to searching.

After a good half hour, they found the part they were looking for.

"Finally!" Raphael exclaimed.

"It would have gone faster if you didn't goof around and actually helped." Donatello sassed his brother, much to his dismay.

Tang Shen got up from the floor only to stop after hearing a faint sound in the distance. She unsheathed her katana from its scabbard and scanned her surroundings. Her sons went quiet upon seeing the sword.

Suddenly, a flash of light blinded them for a moment.

"Stay where you are and do not resist mutants!"

Shen's eyes became adjusted to the sudden light and saw before her a large armored truck surrounded by multiple soldiers. On the side of the truck were the letters EPF. Shen's eyes widened at the sight of those words. A bone-chilling shiver went down her spine as sweat dripped from her face even though it was still cold around her.

A tall, broad-shouldered, white man in a black suit came out of the armored truck and stood between the soldiers. Pitch black glasses covered the man's eyes. His hair was sleek and combed back, not a stray hair in sight.

"My, my, look at you. An impressive lot you are," The man said. "A katana? My you're more intriguing than most mutants."

The young turtles huddled together behind their mother, frightened by the strange man. Michelangelo took hold of Shen's leg while the others stood behind him.

The well-dressed man adjusted his glasses, "Now, why don't you be good and come with us and we can avoid dragging this on more than it has too. I'm on a tight schedule tonight."

"Hashire(Run)…" Shen mumbled under her breath, her sons the only ones to hear the word.

The soldiers around him adjusted their guns and aimed directly at the mutant turtles before them.

"Hashire!" Shen yelled out.

Her sons did not think twice and began running away from the scene, their mother following close behind as she deflected the tranquilizing darts the soldiers shot at them with her katana. The turtles ran through the large maze of junk, turning every corner only to turn back as they saw soldiers chase after them.

"Argh!"

Shen fell to the ground alerting her sons as they huddled against her, seeing if she was okay. Shen looked down to her left leg to find she had been shot, blood spewing out from the hole.

"Mom!" Leonardo said worryingly as he tried helping her up.

"No! Leave me! You four get out of here! I will be right behind you!" Shen insisted, shooing her sons off.

"We're not leaving you!" Raphael said.

"Go now!" Shen told them.

Leonardo grabbed Raphael and all began running away, leaving their mother behind to fend for herself.

She tore a piece of her cloak and wrapped the bullet hole as tightly as she could. She picked herself up with the help of her sword only to be confronted with the man in the black suit.

"You're one stubborn group of mutants. Then again, all of them are," The man said.

"Y-You will not hurt my sons…" Shen threatened the man before her, pointing her sword at him.

"We'll see about that."

Shen charged at the man, swinging her sword at him. He dodged the attack and countered with a back kick of his own, sending the mutant flying into a hill of junk.

"I thought you would be better." The man stated disappointedly.

Tang Shen did not respond to the comment but instead headed straight toward the man again, trying her hardest to take the man down.

* * *

"Guys, hurry!" Leonardo told his brothers as they kept making their way to the fence of the junkyard, hopefully jumping over it and finding the nearest manhole.

"Leo look out!" Raphael warned his brother.

One of the soldiers had appeared out of nowhere and kicked Leonardo down to the ground. Soon more soldiers appeared and surrounded the young group of turtles.

"Oh no…"

* * *

"All mutants neutralized, sir! Tracking collars have been placed on them!" One of the soldiers reported to the suited man.

"Good, put them inside the truck. We already wasted enough time here." The man ordered, adjusting his sleeves and combing his hair back with his hands. The soldiers did as they were ordered and threw each mutant inside the back of the truck, not caring if they were comfortable.

"Are you alright sir?" Another soldier asked concernedly.

"I am fine, though I must admit, that mutant has skills," The man admitted as he climbed up inside the passenger seat of the truck. "She is worth experimenting on."

* * *

Shen groaned as she felt her body ache all over. She brought her hand to her head as a splitting headache washed over her. The sound of rattling metal startled her. She opened her eyes to find her wrists chained together, so were her ankles.

She turned her head to find her sons all unconscious laying on the cold metal surface of the truck. Their wrists and ankles chained as well. She then looked around her surroundings to find they weren't the only ones inside the truck.

On the opposite side of the truck was another small family, two arctic foxes with purple markings around their eyes. It was a mother holding onto her daughter.

"You're awake…" The fox said hoarsely.

"They captured you as well?" Shen asked, receiving a slight nod in response.

Shen leaned forward to wake her sons who did so with groans and moans. She hadn't taken notice until now but her sons were covered in wounds. Bruises, cuts, scratches covered their bodies.

"M-mom?" They called out as they sat up from the cold metal. Their chains rattled and startled them as they surveyed their surroundings, confusion, and terror written clear on their faces.

"W-What happened? W-Where are we?" They questioned.

"We were captured," Shen said truthfully.

While young, they understood much about the world around them. They understood the words their mother had spoken, having already been told about the EPF shortly after Tang Shen had been told.

They bowed their heads down and stared at the floor.

Michelangelo was the first to crawl his way over to his mother, huddling into his left side and letting the cloak she wore cover him, tears forming in the corner of his eyes. Soon the rest of her sons crawled over and huddled together, Shen wrapping her arms tightly around them.

They stayed like that for a while as the truck kept driving to who knows where. The silence was chilling and Shen only savored the last few moments of peace she knew she would have.

"W-What is your name?" The fox broke the silence, her raspy voice barely audible.

"Tang Shen. Yours?" She answered.

"Eska," She replied with a small cough.

"She is my daughter, Alopex. We were originally from Alaska but we came here to New York back when the M-Bomb dropped. We were mutated into arctic foxes since we used to hunt them." Eska shared. Her daughter shifted her head to look at the mutant turtles, staring blankly at them as the redness of her eyes was shown.

"These are my sons, Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo. We were mutated into turtles. We are Japanese and we came to New York three years before the M-Bomb." Shen shared.

"Her father…" Eska started but paused, "H-he didn't make it through the M-Bomb…"

Shen could see the hurt and sorrow in the fox's eyes, herself relating to the pain of losing your love and father to your children. Alopex had turned her head and buried it back into her mother's chest.

"I am sorry for your loss." Shen consoled, "I can understand that pain."

"Did you lose someone in the M-Bomb as well?" Eska asked.

"No…" Shen replied, "I-I lost my husband during a fire back in Japan, right before I came here."

"I'm sorry."

Both mutants stayed quiet for a moment or two before Eska began talking again.

"Do you know where they are taking us?" She asked.

"From what I've been told, perhaps one of the research facilities in the state. I am not entirely sure." Shen answered.

"We should stick together when we get there," Eska suggested. "I am not good at being by myself."

Shen could see the nervousness inside Eska. She figured she must have very bad anxiety. Perhaps it wasn't a bad idea. Eska seems nice and from the small talk, trustworthy enough to be around.

"Alright." Shen agreed, much to the delight of the fox who only gave a small smile.

The rest of the ride was silent, more and more mutants were thrown into the truck as they made their way to the facility that Tang Shen had said they would go.

* * *

They had arrived passed 4 am to a large secluded facility camp that was surrounded by a large and dense forest. The building was surrounded by many soldiers, some posted in the large watchtowers attached to the structure.

The mutants were escorted out of the truck and into the building in single filed lines where they were met with white, clean, pristine design on the interior. The walls were bright white with concrete floors, some occasional marble. It all resembled a hospital.

Once fully inside, they were met with people in lab coats who escorted each mutant to an infirmary where they performed a physical. They inspected them, checking their overall health, vitals, and everything you could think of. Once the tests had been completed, they were fashioned with a black tracker on their neck with a small colored light on it, obviously having some significance to it. Finally, they were filed into the facility's computers and escorted to a cell.

Inside the cell was bunk beds that hang from the brick wall in between two barred windows. Another set of bunk beds hanged from the wall adjacent from the one with windows. On the opposite side of the room were the toilet and sink, sectioned off with a brick wall but having an opening where the door might be. The cell itself was rather spacious than most, mostly to accommodate the various sizes of mutants in the facility.

Much to their luck, Tang Shen with her sons shared the cell with Eska and her daughter. The turtle mutants took the two beds on the windowed wall while Eska and Alopex shared the ones on the adjacent wall. Tang Shen shared the top bunk with the youngest turtle while the other three shared the one on the bottom, being small enough to fit together. Eska and Alopex shared the bottom bunk while they left the top one empty.

They all rested on their respective beds, the two arctic foxes being the first to sleep. Soon came the young turtles while Tang Shen still lay awake, stroking the head of her youngest. Soon enough she allowed herself to sleep the last hours of night she had. Closing her eyes, she dozed off.

Weeks had passed since the turtles' capture. The weather continued to warm and the snow left behind had melted.

Life in the mutant facility was very limiting. Mutants were limited to where they could roam within the building, from the common hall, cafeteria, their cells, to the courtyard that housed a basketball court. There was little to do and most days were spent being bored to death by the same old thing.

There was a diverse range of mutants, ranging from mammals to amphibians to even plants. Some mutants came from other parts of the country if not another country. There are also those who have been in the facility for years while others have only been there for a few weeks.

Many mutants formed groups ranging from the type of mutant, the animal species, to how long you've been in the facility. Most groups were rather small and kept to themselves more often than not, knowing that having conflicts would lead to strict punishments.

But that was only the half of it. While half the time you spend being bored out of your mind, the other half was spent being experimented on.

Each mutant is fashioned with a neck tracker that has a colored light on. The color on the tracker indicates the type of mutant you are. It is based on how you were mutated; caught in the bombs or other means, and how much mutagen a mutant has in their DNA.

For those who were exposed to the mutagen by means of contaminated water or food supply, being bitten by a mutant, or coming into contact with contaminated mutagen will have lower concentrations of mutagen in them. These mutants appear the most human and have a blue to yellow light on their tracker, blue being the lowest concentration, green being higher, and yellow having a decent concentration of the mutagen.

For those who were exposed to the mutagen by being caught in the explosions of the bomb have the highest concentration of mutagen. However near or far someone was from the explosion, it varied the concentration. These mutants have the most variation on their appearance, ranging from still having human characteristics to being completely anthropomorphic. They have an orange to red light, the red being the highest concentration.

Those who are marked with the red light are known as the "special cases" and are the mutants most experimented on as they contain the most and purest form of the mutagenic substance. They are also viewed over by high ranking officials of the government and by the chairman of the EPF, John K. Bishop, the same man dressed in black that captured Tang Shen and her sons.

Tang Shen and her son were marked as special cases along with a small number of other mutants.

The mutants are put through many tests that challenge their bodies physically and mentally but also submerged into more unethical tests. While the main physical tests consisted of how the mutagen enhances the human body, the unethical tests go deeper to understand the internal changes in one's body.

Unfortunately, Tang Shen was chosen for one of these experiments alongside other unlucky souls.

They were put unconscious and were cut open to examine their internal organs, tissue, muscle, fat, and everything they could study from the mutants. Their findings were astonishing and gave answers to how the mutagen works to change the human body.

They were stitched back together once the examinations were done and put under bed rest to recover from the large cut on their bodies. They were also monitored for their recovery speed which they found to be twice if not three times faster than the average human and the cuts were nearly invisible to the naked eye.

The cutting open their bodies weren't the only terrifying thing about the examinations. The more terrifying thing was the fact that Bishop would stare at each mutant with this disturbing look on his face. A wide grin plastered terrifyingly on his villainous chiseled face, his glasses low enough to see his lifeless eyes boring holes with the obsessiveness of a psychotic man.

Just how dare he look at them with such obsession, like they were nothing but little lab rats to his experiments. It was sickening. But that would merely be forgotten by the pain the mutants felt after each experiment.

Things went on like that for who knows how long, experiment, recovery, experiment, recovery. A repetitive cycle that had no end.

* * *

Three months had passed since the turtles' capture. Tang Shen was recovering in one of the special infirmaries from a recent experiment she was put under. Another examination of her organs, resulting in her plastron being cut open once more.

The pain would be unbearable to most but Tang Shen had grown used to it. Luckily for her, the pain was the last thing on her mind.

Her sons were allowed to be with her in the infirmary, by threatening request from Tang Shen. They all sat in the chairs around her bed and the machines overlooking her vitals. Michelangelo was the closest to their mother, having his arms crossed on the bed with his head laying on top, Shen petting his small head with her left hand. Raphael sat on the edge of the bed while Leonardo and Donatello sat in their respective chairs beside the bed.

They talked about a few things, how things were going back in the regular facility, how Eska and Alopex were holding up, what was happening to Tang Shen during her absence.

While it hurt the young turtles, Tang Shen told them about what was happening to her during the experiments. It agonized them to see their mother this way, being cut open, put under extreme tests that drove her body to its limits. But they understood why it was happening. While merely being just children, they had grown to be mature for their age, considering the life they live in, there was little room for them to act like children.

The door of the infirmary creaked open.

"Tang Shen?"

The turtles turned to face the door, possibly another nurse coming to check up on Tang Shen. But it was no nurse.

It was a white man with a white lab coat on. His hair was a bright red-orange color, also sporting large square black glasses. The turtles immediately recognized the man.

"K-Kirby?" Shen hoarsely as she tried to sit up from the bed, only to be met with a stinging pain coursing through her torso. "I-Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me," Kirby confirmed as he closed the door behind him.

"Mr. O'Neil!" The young turtles called out as they ran and hugged the man. "We missed you!"

"I've missed you, boys, too." Kirby hugged them back before walking towards the edge of the bed.

"W-Why are you here? And most importantly, how'd you find us?" Shen questioned the man.

"I work as one of the lead researchers in the genetics research group remember?" Kirby answered the first question.

"Right… I must've forgotten." Shen said as she brought her hand up to her head.

"As to how I found you, it started when you didn't show up to the house anymore. Mary and I started getting worried about what may have happened to you and tried figuring out a way to find you. Naturally one of the possibilities was that you had been captured by the EPF and sent here." Kirby started explaining as he pulled up an extra chair.

"And we were," Raphael said aloud.

"I did a bit of investigating here and found your file while I was in the medical bay a couple of weeks ago. I read the file and found you had been marked as one of the "special cases." I knew it would be difficult reaching you but I managed to find my opportunity to find you here." He finished.

"I… I'm sorry for what they have been putting you through. If I could stop it I would but I don't have that kind of power." He apologized. "At least you're alive and recovering."

They all stayed silent, Shen letting everything she listened to sink in.

"How are Mary and April?" Shen asked.

"They are fine, worried, but fine nonetheless," Kirby told her.

"That's good. At least now they can calm down, knowing I'm still alive."

"Yes, they will definitely calm down, especially my Apes. She asks every day if I found you five." Kirby chuckled. "She misses you very much."

Shen smiled at the remark. "Well, tell April and Mary we miss them very much too."

"I will."

Silence swept the room once more but this time was more comforting.

"I… have some news that I think you five will be excited about," Kirby spoke, inciting interest to the mutant turtles.

"What kind of news?!" The young turtles asked him, their rather large eyes gleaming with curiosity.

"You guys get to go home soon," Kirby told them.

"No way, really?!" Raphael was in disbelief.

"How?" Shen asked him.

"The world governments have come to a decision and have signed a bill that integrates mutants back into society," Kirby explained excitedly. "You get to go home."

"Awesome!" Michelangelo shouted as he pumped his fists into the air.

"When do we go home?!" Leonardo asked.

"There is no specific date but they say in the upcoming weeks they will disperse a small number of mutants once at a time," Kirby answered.

"That is good to here." Shen smiled at the thought of returning home.

"Good?! It's fantastic! Awesome! Some other words better than good! We get to go home!" Raphael shouted!

"Looks like my time is up here. I have to go before they find me missing." Kirby said disappointedly as he got up from the chair and headed towards the door. "Get well soon, Shen. I hope I can get another chance to come and visit you again."

"Goodbye, for now, Kirby. Thank you for coming." Shen bid him farewell before he opened the door.

"Goodbye, Mr. O'Neil!" The young turtles bid the man off as he went out of the room, closing the door behind him.

* * *

Kirby's words turned out to be true. Not just three weeks later were the captured mutants released back into the world. It was a very important day, not just for mutants but for humans as well. Families once broken by the M-Bomb are now whole once more. The fear of having to be chased down or killed was lifted off the shoulders of every mutant as they stepped foot upon their homes.

Tang Shen and her sons were among the first to be released back to the human world. They were immediately seen by the O'Neil family who had picked them up from the bus station they were dropped off from. They all hugged and welcomed the mutants back home. It was good to see the human family once more, more now that they don't have to fear anything.

There were still some tensions between mutants and humans, as to be expected considering how humans are, but overall the integration of mutants still went smoothly.

While most mutants went on to live a life among humans, with their families and friends, others went back to live in the mutant city underneath New York. Tang Shen and her sons were one of those mutants, going back to live in their sewer home.

Why you may ask. Well, let's just say it's free real estate. ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°)

It was good to be back home.

* * *

Three years have now passed since mutants have been integrated into society.

During this four year period, Tang Shen had resumed with her sons' training in ninjutsu. While there was no more threat, Tang Shen felt the need to complete their training to become full-fledged ninjas. And because her sons would not stop bothering her about it.

Day in and day out the turtles trained arduously. Mastering their katas, strength, awareness, speed, stealth, meditation, and everything that came to ninjutsu.

They each learned to wield all types of weapons, even those that would not be considered weapons, to master the weapon of their choice. Leonardo has mastered the twin katanas, Raphael the twin sais, Donatello the bo staff, and Michelangelo the nunchaku. Weapons that their parents had mastered before them. Hamato Yoshi mastering the sais and bo staff while Tang Shen mastered the katana and nunchaku.

After three years of nonstop training, the turtles were ready for their last test to become full-fledged ninjas.

White stick candles lit up the dark dojo as they were placed in a circle on the floor in the middle of the room. Tang Shen sat on one side of the candles on one of the longer walls while her sons sat on the opposite wall.

Each turtle has their weapon in hand, holding tightly onto it from what's about to come.

"My sons, the time has come for you to become proper ninjas. As it is tradition, a student must fight a skilled warrior, defeating them to gain their rank as a ninja." Shen explained to her sons as she finished lighting the candles in front of her. "For the four you, however, will not fight in the real world but within the astral plane."

"There in the astral plane, you will find a ninja waiting to battle. You will only win when you deal him a finishing blow and they burst in a puff of smoke. Lose and you will be returned back to the real world." Shen continued.

"The ninja you will fight is highly skilled and you need to use everything I have taught you to defeat him. Win, and only then will you become a true ninja. Do you understand?"

Her sons bowed down, "Hai, Sensei!"

"Good. Michelangelo, you are up first."

Surprised to find himself being first, he quickly nodded before getting up from the carpet and stepping inside the circle of candles.

"Good luck, bro." He heard Raphael say as he laid down within the circle, his nunchaku in hand resting on top of his torso.

Tang Shen laid both her hands on his head and hands.

"I will guide you through to the astral plane. Once you arrive there you will be on your own." Shen explained to her youngest son, "Are you ready?"

"H-Hai!" Mikey nodded in response, taking a deep breath before closing his eyes.

"Good luck, my son."

Tang Shen performed an ancient mantra used to gain access to the astral plane. The rest of her sons sat and watched quietly at the scene before them.

* * *

Michelangelo was swallowed into pitch-black darkness, feeling himself float through it. He felt himself rise through something wet. Through his eyelids, he found his surroundings becoming brighter.

Gasp!

His body rose from the water he had been traveling through, gasping for much need air. He looked around his surroundings to find he had emerged from a small lake. In the distance, he spotted a large cherry blossom tree. He began swimming toward it, reaching dry land rather quickly.

He dried himself off and found himself dressed in traditional ninja clothing. Black cloth accompanied with bandages on his arms, legs, and torso. His nunchaku strapped into the bandages.

He walked over to the cherry blossom and was amazed at how beautifully it bloomed. He picked up a fallen flower and gazed at it, admiring its beauty. The calm breeze picked up and blew it away from his hand. He turned to catch the flower only to find someone waiting for him.

The ninja.

He was a rather tall man with black hair and brown eyes. He wore solid black clothes with metal plates sitting upon his body, shoulders, arms, and legs. A large cape draped over his body, the ends blowing with the breeze. Strapped across his hips, he sported a katana. His face was concealed by a black cloth over his mouth and a dark red bandana over his eyes.

"Are you Hamato Michelangelo?" The ninja questioned in Japanese.

"Y-Yes." The young turtle responded in the same language.

"Hamato Michelangelo, son of Hamato Yoshi and Tang Shen, you will fight me here in the astral plane to gain your title of ninja of the Hamato clan." The ninja stated.

"Are you ready?"

"Hai!"

The ninja took a bow, not rising until Michelangelo bowed as well. Both straightened themselves moments later, drawing his katana from its scabbard, holding it in front of them and the blade pointing at the young turtle. The orange turtle put himself in a battle stance, grabbing his nunchaku from his strap and holding them up in the air.

They stayed still for a moment, letting the light breeze wash over them.

The ninja charged at Michelangelo, initiating the battle. He swung his sword at the young turtle who dodged it easily. The ninja continued to strike at the turtles only to miss every time. Swinging his sword up into the air gave Michelangelo an opportunity to attack. He back kicks the ninja to the ground.

"Seems I underestimated you, child." The ninja admitted as he got up from the ground. He wiped the spit off his face, "Things are about to get interesting."

* * *

Outside of the astral plane, the three other young turtles waited patiently for their youngest brother. Their mother continued to chant the mystical mantra, now becoming a silent mumble, as she had her hands on top of the orange turtle's head and hands. Eyes closed as well.

The young turtle continued to remain still, his chest rising up and down in a slow but constant tempo. The others were on the edge of their seat, the suspense was killing them.

"Do you think he's doing okay?" Raphael whispered to his brothers, his eyes not leaving his brother.

"I hope so," Donatello responded.

* * *

Back in the astral plane, Michelangelo continued to fight the ninja, gaining the upper hand. The young turtle kicked the ninja once more in the torso before he swung his nunchaku down on his opponent's head. The ninja dissipating in a puff of smoke upon impact.

The orange turtles stood still in confusion. Straightening himself up, he turned his head to search for the ninja only to find nothing.

Suddenly, the smoke surrounding him began recollecting itself in front of the young turtle. The ninja had reemerged before him.

"Hamato Michelangelo, you have defeated me in battle. From this day forth, you are now a ninja of the Hamato Clan." The ninja stated, bowing in honor of the turtle's victory.

* * *

Michelangelo slowly opened his eyes, his lids flickering a bit from the sudden light of the candles. He sat up from the floor and met his mother's gaze. She smiled proudly at him.

"I-I did!" Mikey said triumphantly. He turned to face his brothers. "I did it, guys! I'm a ninja!"

"Awesome job, Mikey!" Raphael congratulated the young turtle as he came to sit in between him and his brother Donatello.

"Donatello, you are next," Shen called out.

Donatello nodded before getting up to lay within the circle, his staff in both hands. Shen put her hands upon his head and hands like before.

"Are you ready?" Shen asked.

"Hai." Donatello closed his eyes and inhaled a large breath.

Tang Shen began the mantra once more.

* * *

Donatello was too swallowed by darkness and emerged from the same lake as Michelangelo. He swam towards land and stood by the cherry blossom tree. There, he met the ninja.

"Are you Hamato Donatello?" The ninja asked him.

"Hai!" Donatello responded.

"Hamato Donatello, son of Hamato Yoshi and Tang Shen, you will fight me here in the astral plane to gain your title of ninja of the Hamato clan." The ninja stated.

"Are you ready?"

"Hai!"

The ninja unsheathed his katana as did Donatello with his bo staff. They stood their ground before commencing the battle.

Donatello has a more difficult time fighting than Michelangelo due to him not being quite as fast. However, he was very agile which made up for his loss of speed. He dodged the sword swings and countered with his own hits.

Soon enough, Donatello gained the upper hand and gave the ninja a finishing blow with his staff. The ninja dissipating in a puff of smoke before reforming before him as he did with Michelangelo.

"Hamato Donatello, you have defeated me in battle. From this day forth, you are now a ninja of the Hamato Clan." The ninja stated, bowing in honor of the turtle's victory.

* * *

Donatello wakes up from the astral plane, sitting up he faced his mother's face to find the same proud smile given to his younger brother.

Donatello only smiled knowing that he had passed.

He got up from the circle and sat back in his spot next to his brothers who congratulated him on his victory.

"Raphael, you are next," Shen called out.

"Wish me, luck guys," Raphael said before laying down within the circle, his sais in both hands.

Tang Shen again positioned her hands on top of his head and hands.

"Are you ready?" She asked.

"Hai, sensei." He answered with the utmost confidence. He inhaled a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Tang Shen, once again, chanted the mantra as Raphael entered the astral plane.

* * *

He was swept into darkness before emerging from the lake and swimming to shore. He stood under the cherry blossom tree before confronting the ninja.

The ninja proceded with the same speech he gave the previous two turtles. They bowed before commencing their battle.

* * *

Back in the dojo, Leonardo felt himself grow anxious as time passed. He felt his hand's sweat as he balled them into fists to control his shaking body. His stomach felt quite queezy, he thought he was going to be sick.

He knew why his body was behaving this way. He had been more a while now, ever since his mother had brought up this test. Even though he was the most well trained out of his brothers, he didn't the confidence in himself to see he could pass. He didn't feel like it was time or ready yet.

He felt weak.

* * *

Raphael was knocked into the blossom tree after misinterpreting the ninja's attack. He got up and charged at the ninja, trying harder to block his attacks.

He got an opening and thrusts his sais into his opponent, dealing him a final blow. The ninja dissipated into a puff of smoke to only recollect himself again.

"Hamato Raphael, you have defeated me in battle. From this day forth, you are now a ninja of the Hamato Clan." The ninja stated, bowing in honor of the turtle's victory.

* * *

Raphael awoke from the astral plane pump his fists into the air in triumph.

"I did it! Yes!" He cheered excitedly.

His brothers congratulated him as he sat back down in his spot outside the circle.

"Leonardo, you are next," Shen called out.

Leonardo nodded hesitantly before getting up from his spot and laying within the circle. He fidgeted with his hold on his katana before gripping them tightly.

"Are you ready?" Shen asked him.

He nodded.

Shen could see and sense the uneasiness of her son. She worried that he would not be up for the fight.

"Are you sure?" She asked concerned.

"H-Hai, sensei," Leonardo answered.

While hesitant, Tang Shen chanted the mantra one last time, resting her hands on top of his head and hands.

Leonardo took a deep breath before closing his eyes.

* * *

He was swept into darkness before emerging through the water. He swam to shore and stood by the cherry blossom. He took a moment to admire it, his mind calming down a bit. But the sudden tranquility dissipated once he laid his eyes on the ninja before him.

For the final time, the ninja repeated the same speech for the other turtles. They both bowed and took out their weapons before initiating the fight. The ninja made the first move and swung his sword at Leonardo who quickly blocked it with his own.

The fight had begun.

Both turtle and human fought valiantly but as they continued, Leonardo found himself losing. He couldn't keep up with his opponent, finding himself being kicked and punched to the ground, attack after attack.

The ninja got the better of him and knocked one of Leo's katanas from his hand, flying behind the turtle and landing on to the tall grass. He then kicked the young turtle back into the tree where he fell to the ground.

The young turtle grabbed the katana that was still in his hand and dug it to the ground, using it to support himself as he got up from the ground. Unfortunately, he felt himself to a week to get up, collapsing to the ground once more. He tried again but he collapsed once more.

He was done for, he had lost.

"Fight!" The ninja commanded.

Leonardo tried to get up once again but couldn't.

"Fight!" The ninja repeated louder.

"I-I can't…" Leo mumbled under his breath.

"Fight!"

"I can't!" Leonardo shouted back.

"I-I can't… I can't beat you… I… I'm too week…"

"You are stronger than what you think, child. You have trained for years to become a ninja!" The ninja said. "You only believe you can't defeat me because you fear that you are not ready, not capable of becoming a ninja!"

"A ninja fears nothing, and neither should you!" He reasoned.

"Prove to me you have what it takes to defeat me! Prove to your mother that you are ready! Prove to your father that you are strong enough! Prove to your brothers that you are able to protect them!"

Leonardo glanced at his reflection from his katana.

"I know you are strong and capable of defeating me! Let go of those fears! Stand and fight!"

Leonardo takes in a deep breath, eyes closed. He grips the handle of his katana tightly before getting up from the ground. Shaking but not breaking, he stood, taking his sword out of the ground and pointing it at his opponent.

"I'm ready,"

The battle began once more and this time, Leonardo was not going to be tied down.

Leonardo quickly got the upper hand, knocking the ninja back to the ground. Tightening his grip, he struck the ninja with his katana. The ninja dissipating in a puff of smoke before recollecting himself.

"Hamato Leonardo, you have defeated me in battle. From this day forth, you are now a ninja of the Hamato Clan." The ninja stated, bowing in honor of the turtle's victory.

* * *

Leonardo awoke back in the real world. He sat up and met his mother's gaze to find it drained yet a smile was still plastered on her face.

Before she could say anything, Leonardo sprung up from the floor to embrace his mother in a bone-crushing hug. The rest of his brothers soon joined in the embrace.

"I'm so proud of you four," Shen told them.

They stayed close for a few moments before moving back.

"Oh, before I forget, I have something for all of you."

Shen stood up and went towards a small wooden box. She opened the lid and grabbed the contents inside before returning to kneel before her sons, keeping her hands behind her back.

"Every ninja lives in the shadows, always in secrecy. A ninja must never reveal themselves to the enemy, at all costs." Shen said. She brought her hands forward, four different colored bandanas in them.

"Within the Hamato Clan, highly skilled ninjas who have proven themselves are gifted their very own colored mask."

Shen puts on the bandanas on each turtle; the orange one to Michelangelo, the purple one to Donatello, the red one to Raphael, and lastly the blue one to Leonardo.

"You four have proven yourselves to be fine ninjas."

The young turtles embrace their mother again, holding her tightly with no plan of letting go. She returns the affection, wrapping her arms around her sons.

"I'm so proud of you."


	2. The Kraang

The streets of New York were quiet this evening. The citizens had retired back to their homes, exhausted from the hectic day. A knock on the glass of a window caught the attention of the inhabitant. The window slid open to reveal a girl, one with pale skin, adorned with freckles and topped off with short vibrant red-orange hair. Her blank expression melted into a smile at the sight of the one who knocked on her window.

"Pizza delivery for April O'Neil!" A turtle with a bright orange mask stated as he held two large boxes of pizza. Behind him were three other turtles, each one wearing a red, blue, and purple bandana.

The orange one is named Michelangelo, the blue one is named Leonardo, the red one is Raphael, and the purple one Donatello.

"You guys know that I have a door right?" April said to the turtles, moving aside to let them in her home through the window. "We're ninjas. We don't exactly use the front door." Raphael told her as he climbed through the window.

"Casey!" Raphael shouted, getting the attention of said person who was sitting on the couch in the living room. Casey got up and went to greet the short but masculine turtle.

"Hey! Pizza's here!" Casey said as he and Raphael shared their own secret high five. "So what toppings did you get this time?" Casey asked as he eyed the two pizza boxes that had been set on the coffee table by Mikey.

"Supreme with extra jalapenos, as usual," Mikey answered. He sat in the bean bag near the tv.

"Movie Master! What movie are we watching tonight?!" Mikey questioned April who had the remote in hand.

"We're watching that one ninja movie we found last time," April answered as she started up Netflix.

"Ohh~ Sounds interesting."

Everyone took their seats. Leonardo took the armchair while the others sat on the L shaped couch. April was sitting on top of Donnie on the short part of the couch while Raph and Casey took up space on the larger part. The movie started.

* * *

Outside the home and a few streets away was a parked white van. Inside were two men who were identical in appearance. They surveyed the area, eyeing the cars and people passing by. A nice family of three walked down the street.

"They should do." The driver said to the passenger.

"Let's go."

* * *

The film ended and April switched the lights back on, revealing the sudden trash of the room. The boxes of pizza were completely empty, cans of soda littered the coffee table, and crumbs of popcorn and bread crept its way into the cracks of the couch.

"That movie was good! Made me tear up at the end." April expressed her opinions to the group.

"You should've seen Raph! He was crying like a little kid." Casey roasted as he wrapped his arm around his best friend.

"Not even! You should've seen Casey. This guy was balling his eyes out the entire time. You can even see the watermarks on his face." Raphael countered back as he brought Casey into an arm crushing hug.

"You're both pussy's," Donnie said, roasting both of the hotheads much to their dismay.

"Suck it up you two and help me clean up," April said before throwing them the role of trash bags. All of them cleaned up the apartment until everything was spotless. Once that was done, the turtles made their leave.

"Movie night at our place next time," Leonardo said before opening up the window he and his brother came in.

"Sure thing. See ya later guys." April bid them farewell, giving a kiss on the cheek to Donnie who happily returned it.

The turtles climbed out through her window as before and started making their way to their home.

They ran through the roofs, seeing it as the fastest way to travel the city. They had memorized everything about the city, knowing where each street is based on certain rooftops. They jumped another rooftop when they heard a cry for help. The turtles stopped in their tracks and headed towards the source. They peered over the edge of the roof.

"Let us go!" A man cried out. The two men from the white van, with an additional two men, surrounded the family of three. Two of the men dragged both the mother and the daughter to the white van but both hostages resisted. They tried to pull away with all their might.

"They're kidnapping them!" Mikey stated in a low whisper. "We gotta help them!"

"Alright, guys. Looks like we gotta little late night brawl." Raphael said as he cracked his knuckles. Each turtle took out their weapons and lifted their hoods, concealing their faces.

"Let's go," Leo said and jumped down from the roof, followed soon after by his brothers. They landed on the ground and took position. Leonardo kept his katana pointed at the kidnappers. "Let them go!" He ordered.

The men were not fazed by them and continued to drag the family into the van. The driver lifted his hand and pointed at the turtles.

"Get rid of them."

The three men dropped what they were doing and took out strange looking guns. They took aim and fired at the turtles. The turtles dodged the bullets which weren't real bullets but energized beams of plasma.

"Laser guns? These guys have laser guns?!" Mikey stated as he dodged a couple more.

Raph charged one of them and readied his sai to stab him but the man grabbed hold of Raph's arm and kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying back through the fence that divided the alleyway.

Donnie charged at another guy and readied his staff to electrocute him but the guy grabbed it and used it against him, electrocuting the purple turtle. He then threw him into the nearest wall where he fell into the garbage tank.

Having been distracted by Donatello, Mikey went and threw his manrikigusari chain to wrap up his enemy. To his surprise, the man grabbed the chain and pulled him towards him. The orange turtle received many kicks and punches to his plastron and was then wrapped up with his own chain. The man hung him to the emergency stairs on the building next to them.

Leo charged at the last man and readied his katana to slice him. Leo took his swing but the man jumped high in the sky. He straightened his legs and knocked Leonardo to the ground when he began to fall back to the floor.

With the turtles knocked out, the men took the family and forced them into the van and drove off. Groans filled the alleyway as the turtles began recovering.

"What... just happened?" Leonardo asked, picking himself up from the ground and rubbing a bruise on his head caused by the impact to the ground.

The lid of the garbage tank opened and out appeared Donatello. He let himself rest on the side of the tank, one hand holding him up while the other was dangling holding his bo staff.

"Did we just lose... to three guys?" Donnie said, panting between his words.

Raphael had gotten up and headed back to his brothers, going through the fence he had been thrown through. He held an arm around his torso, stilling the pain from the kick.

"Those guys hit like trucks," Raphael claimed to his brothers who wholeheartedly agree. "Just who were those guys?" He asked.

"Definitely not the purple dragons," Leonardo responded, already speculating on the identities of the kidnappers. "The mob perhaps?"

"Nah, they were too skilled and they don't have that kinda tech." Donnie reasoned. "Those laser guns were kinda cool though."

"So it's not the dragons or the mob. Then who is it?" Raphael repeated his question. All of them went into deep thought, figuring it out. Raph gave a small smirk. "The Illuminati," Raphael suggested half-jokingly.

"Raphael, for the last time the Illuminati doesn't exist," Donatello responded angrily, tightening the grip on his staff. Raphael put his hands up in defense, "Just putting it out there."

"Uh, guys?" A voice spoke out. The turtles turned to the source and found it to be their little brother who was still dangling from the stairs. "A little help here?"

"Hold on, I got you," Leo said before heading to help his brother down. The middle brothers stayed together and continued to stare at each other.

"I still think it's the Illuminati." Raphael restated his answer, much to the annoyance of his slightly younger brother. Donatello was done with Raphael's shit and started made his way home, "I'm done... I'm too exhausted to deal with your shit."

"H-Hey! You know I'm joking!" Raphael said before going after his brother.

* * *

Morning came for the turtles, thankfully they didn't have to worry about early morning practice. They were all in the kitchen sitting at the island that was placed in the middle of the room. Raphael and Michelangelo sat opposite of each other on the short sides of the island while Donatello and Leonardo sat next to each other on the longer side facing the stove.

The turtles ate their breakfast in silence, still too exhausted and bruised to initiate conversation. The orange turtle ate a bowl of his favorite cereal. The red turtle was eating a sandwich he had made with the leftover ham that was in the fridge. The blue turtle was eating toast with a cup of green tea. The purple turtle didn't eat but instead was drinking coffee straight from the pot while staring at his laptop screen.

Raphael groaned as the headache that had been coming and going had come back. He held his hand on his head as if to stop the pain.

"We got any Tylenol?" He asked his brothers.

"In the cabinet, bottom shelf," Leonardo responded, his brother moving to the said cabinet to grab the medication. Leo turned himself over to his insomniac brother, noticing that his systems started rebooting.

"You find anything about those guys last night?" Leo asked him.

"Huh? Oh, uh..." It still took a minute or two for Donnie to get his thoughts together. He yawned and rubbed his face to get himself awake. He continued, "I was able to... track down the van to see where they ended up. I tracked them down to an abandoned building in the lower east side of Manhattan."

"The hell they doing in the east side?" Raphael asked as he stood next to Donnie. Mikey, joining in on the conversation, leaned closer to Leo. Just then another turtle came into the kitchen.

The mother of the turtles, Tang Shen. She was smaller than the turtles already present in the room. She wore the lightest green out of the turtles and was decorated by teal marks similar to her sons, chocolate eyes popped out her similar color scheme. She wore a loose dark navy robe that looked very comfortable and held a jade colored staff. She walked to her sons quietly like a mouse and hovered behind them, listening in onto their conversation.

"That's what we're gonna find out. We're gonna find them tonight." Leo responded to Raph.

"Find who?" Tang Shen finally spoke, giving a spook to her sons. They quickly relaxed at the sight of their mother who chuckled at their reactions.

"Oh, hey mom." Leo greeted her with his brothers following suit.

"What is all this going to the east side?" Shen asked as she went to grab a cup from the cabinet and poured hot water from the kettle that was sitting upon the stove before inserting the tea bag into the cup.

"We're looking for these guys that kidnapped a family last night," Mikey answered. Shen came close to her sons and inspected each of their wounds.

"That would explain all these bruises." She stated.

"You boys know you don't have to keep saving every single person in the city. That's why there is the police." Shen said to them. She was starting another one of her worry rants. Ever since the turtles had turned 14, they had decided to use their skills to protect the city. As the years had gone on, things have become more serious for the turtles which had begun to worry their mother.

"You know we can't help it. Ever since we were little you told us that we should do the right thing and we're doing that." Raphael responded to her.

She sighed, "I know you four love protecting the city but..."

"Mom... there's nothing to worry about. We know how to take care of ourselves. We can handle this, we always have." Leonardo reassured his mother who sighed in defeat. She gave a small smile to her sons, "Come back in one piece, okay?" Her sons promised before she left the kitchen, leaving them to continue their search.

* * *

Night came for the turtles who were already on their way to the east side in their own van. They had salvaged it about a year ago from the local junkyard in the mutant city, it was in rough condition but Donnie had managed to get it running again. Since then the turtles have used it to get from one area to another faster than they were to go on foot.

Leonardo is the driver since he is the least likely one to not run over things for the fun of it. Donatello was at the computers which he had installed into the van. Raphael and Michelangelo sat opposite of Donatello. They were not in charge of anything but were kept as back up. Next to them was Raphael's motorcycle, again also salvaged from the junkyard and repurposed.

"Alright, fearless leader, what's the plan?" Raphael asked his older brother. "The plan is to infiltrate the place and find the family and get out of there without getting caught," Leonardo explained to the group.

"Take a right here and park the van." Donnie direct Leo who followed. Leo parked the van in an alleyway, two buildings away from the building. "There's an entrance through the roof," Donnie said. All the turtles climbed up the building and jumped over the roofs to the one they needed to be. They smashed opened the roof access door and headed down into the building.

They venture through the building, going down hallways and stairs. The walls were decorated with metal, electric conductors coursed through the ceiling, bright magenta lights guided the floor, the walls, and the ceiling. This wasn't right.

"Not your typical villain hideout," Raphael stated as he moved slowly through the narrow hallway. "I think their favorite color is magenta." Mikey chirped.

"There's something fishy going on in here. I can feel it. Stay sharp ninjas!" Leo warned his brothers.

Donnie took a better look at the material around them, "This material... I don't recognize any of it. It's… It's not native to earth."

Footsteps came from the upcoming hallway. The turtles hid around the dark corner from the upcoming figures. It was the family they were gonna rescue but that was quickly forgotten. What surprised them the most was that they were escorted by alien robots.

"Alien robots..." Mikey whispered.

The robots entered a room that led to what the turtles thought was a lab.

"Let's go," Leo ordered as the turtles made their way to the room. Raph keeping the door open with his bare strength for his brothers to get through. Once they were in the closed the door. They all gathered together to make sure they made it.

"Holy shit..." Donnie said aloud as he gazed at the contents of the room, his brothers following suit.

The lab was about two and a half stories high, all covered in electric conductors hanging from one part of the ceiling to another. One wall was nothing but cages with mutants inside. Another wall sported what appeared to be computers. Robots filled the room, some being scientists while others being soldiers.

The center of the room is what caught the turtles eye the most. A giant tub of green ooze was held tightly by metal rods from the ceiling with a tube coming down from the bottom.

Michelangelo spotted the family, "Guys look!" There they saw the family being escorted to the center of the lab, underneath the tub of ooze. They were locked in by a capsule that connected to the tube. A couple of robots added a special vile of unknown contents into the tube to mix with the ooze. After a few clicks on their computer, the ooze from the tub began to flow through the tube and into the capsule.

The sudden contact with the ooze was agonizing. They felt like they were burning up from the outside and inside. Their bodies contorted in gross and horrific ways, bones shifting and changing inside their bodies. The sounds of screams filled the lab, the robots not fazed by it. The ooze now absorbed within their bodies, it showed their new forms, wolfs.

"Experiment successful. The mutagen has responded to the human body as desired." One of the robots said as they typed it down in their tablet. A few guards escorted the newly mutated family straight into a cage.

Shock didn't begin to describe what the turtles felt. They couldn't believe what they had just witnessed. They were frozen in place, not sure of what do next. Something inside Donatello's mind clicked, stepping back from his sudden realization.

"Oh god..." Donnie began, "I think we just discovered who's responsible for the M-Bomb."

"Intruders!" A robot shouted, pointing a gun at the turtles.

"Shit," Raphael said aloud. "Guys run!" Leo shouted. The turtles began running away in different directions from the robots who began firing at them.

"What do we do now, leader?!" Raphael asked as he punched a robot in the face. "We get out of here!" Leo responded as he kicked down another robot. They kept swarming in large numbers, giving the turtles a hard time trying to reach the door.

"But what about all the mutants in the cages?! We can't leave them here!" Mikey argued as he kicked down a robot. "Mikey's right! We can't leave them here, who knows what these guys are gonna do to them!" Donnie argued as well.

"Fine! Donnie, get to the control panel and find a way to set them free from there! We'll deal with these robots!" Leo ordered.

Donnie made his way towards the computers that were on the other side of the room, taking down the robots that got in his way. Once at the computers he began typing away while his brothers continued to fight against the robots.

As the turtles fought the mysterious robot aliens, they quickly discovered they were no match for them. Leo fought one of the robots and swung his katanas at it. They broke on impact, the tips landing on the floor. Leo froze at the sight, his eyes going back and forth between the katanas in his hand and the blades on the ground.

"Oh no..." Leo mumbled as the robot punched him right in the face.

Raphael and Michelangelo struggled with their own batch of alien robots. Both strike at a robot but their weapons too broke. Raph's sais broke into four pieces while the wood of Mikey's nunchaku broke in half, scattering splinters of wood on the ground. Both too were totaled by the robots. As the three brothers faced new problems, so did Donatello.

"Ugh, guys! We have a slight problem!" Donnie yelled out. "Slight problem?!" Raphael shouted before getting punched by a robot. "What's wrong?!" Leo asked as he dodged the robot's sword. "The controls are in an alien language!"

"What?!" Mikey blurted out. "So what do we do now?!" Raph asked as he was able to gather up with his brothers. "We break them ourselves!" Leo said.

All the turtles began to break the glass of the cages, releasing the mutants from inside. Each mutant headed out through the open windows that were at the near ceiling of the lab.

"That's all of them," Leo said as he gathered up with his brothers. "We still got these guys to deal with." Raphael reminded as more robots came swarming in. "They just don't stop coming!" Mikey shouted as he backed up against his brothers.

"You four will not interfere with Kraang's plan anymore! Surrender mutants!" A robot ordered, pointing a gun at the turtles.

"We'll see about that!" Leo retorted. "Come on ninjas!" The turtles began to make their way through the hoard of kraang, punching, kicking, and pushing their way through to get to the exit. Out of nowhere Raphael was grabbed from behind and thrown at the main computer, destroying it in the process. The lights suddenly blared red, alarms filling up the entire building.

WARNING! WARNING! SELF DESTRUCT SEQUENCE ACTIVATED! I REPEAT! SELF DESTRUCT SEQUENCE ACTIVATED!

Everyone froze up on the spot, the kraang glared angrily at the kraang robot that threw Raphael into the computer.

"You fucking idiot! Look at what you've done! All kraang evacuate!" One of the kraang shouted. All the kraang began making their way out of the building, pushing and toppling over each other. The turtles looked at each other blankly. "Run!"Leo yelled out.

The turtles ran as fast as they could, making their way out of the building the same way they came in, pushing through the large hoard of kraang that too was trying to escape. They jumped down from the roof and scurried towards their van that was a couple buildings away.

Mikey dared to look back and saw a small hoard of kraang following them, aiming their guns and starting to fire at the escapees.

"The kraang are after us!" Mikey warned his brothers, barely dodging a shot. "Hurry guys!" Leo shouted to the group as they continued to run towards their van.

Leo was the first to make it to the van, he pulled the doors and held them open for his brothers to get in, then getting in himself once his brothers were inside. Leo hastily took out the keys to start the engine, dropping them from the stress.

"Start the truck, Leo! Start the truck!" Raphael frantically shouted at his eldest brother as they saw the kraang coming close. "Got it!" Leo said as he finally managed to get the key inside the start engine. Putting the van in reverse, he slammed his foot onto the gas pedal and drove out of the alleyway and onto the street, running over the kraang that had kept following them. The turtles gave themselves a second to relax as they drove away from the kraang.

Suddenly the building they were just in exploded, engulfing the old brick and wood in bright raging blue flames. The force of the explosion shook the ground, making Leo lose control over the van, making a 180 turn facing the flames. They all took a moment to gaze at the blue light.

"Holy shit..." Donatello mumbled under his breath but it was still audible to his brothers, seeing as that is what the rest are thinking as well.

Everything felt so surreal to the mutant turtles. Just within the span of an hour so many things have changed for the turtles. What seemed to be a simple rescue mission turned itself into a full out battle against alien robots who happened to be the ones responsible for the infamous M-Bomb. It was so much to process for the turtles. Unfortunately, they won't be able too as the sounds of sirens started to fill in their ears, breaking the reptiles from their stunned trance. Leo took off before the cops could catch them, making their way back to their home back in the sewers of Manhattan.

* * *

It was around midnight when the turtles arrived back to their home, which was the usual time they returned home, the only difference is the abundance of bruises and wounds covering their entire bodies. They spotted their mother sitting on one of the armchairs watching late-night soap operas. They would always find her there after a patrol over the city, patiently waiting for her son to make sure her sons came home safe and sound, tending to their wounds if there were any.

She turned her head over to her sons, what was a welcoming smile turned into a worried frown. She got up from the chair and walked towards her sons, inspecting their bruises.

Cupping Raphael's cheeks in her hand, she asked worriedly, "What happened out there?"

"Ugh... a lot... actually," Raphael said, rubbing the back of his head as he took a seat on the couch next to his youngest brother who laid spread out, his legs dangling from one side of the couch.

"It may sound completely *yawn* wack but..." Mikey tried to continue his sentence but immediately fell asleep on top of Raph's leg, the owner who began rubbing his head.

"We fought aliens," Donnie stated. He got a strange glare from Tang Shen, confused and a little bit concerned. Before she could say anything, Donnie interrupted her, "No we're not high."

"Are you sure?" Shen tried to reassure herself. "It's true. We fought aliens..." Leo confirmed who only seconds later let himself process what he just said, "Holy shit we fought aliens."

"You boys really need some sleep," Shen said, seeming too tired to deal with her son's shenanigans much to the dismay of Donatello. "We're... ugh fine. We'll explain everything in the morning."

With that, the turtles all retreated to their rooms, with the exception of Mikey and Raph who both fell asleep on the couch. It was better to leave them be than to wake them. Besides, the couch was comfy enough to be a bed. They all laid in their beds and slowly fell asleep.

* * *

It was the next morning and the turtles were slowly recovering from their mission of the previous night. Leonardo was sore all over, his carapace was stiff as a rock and any slight bending shot a slight pain through his body. There was also a large bruise on his right cheek. Raphael too was suffering from a sore body but was managing it more than his older brother. He was the most bruised out of his brothers, having a large bruise on his right cheek and his head, accompanied with a black eye on his left eye. Michelangelo heals the fastest out of his older brothers and thus doesn't feel as groggy. Though he still does have a slight soreness and a couple of bruises, luckily none were on his face. Donatello was the least sore and bruised from his brothers and was very fortunate, he heals the slowest compared to them.

All the turtles were sitting around the living room, sipping some tea their mother had made and eating some pizza that was brought over by their human friends. April and Casey heard the news about what happened last night and decided to come over and to check up on the turtles. Currently, they were talking about what happened to the turtles.

"Alien robots? You gotta be joking." Casey gave a hardy laugh.

"Bro, we ain't lying. We really did fight alien robots! Sure we look like shit but we beat them! We even rescued all the mutants they had captured there." Raphael insisted.

Casey and April eyed each other knowingly, their gaze went over to Leonardo. They knew they could get a definite answer from him.

"It's true, we fought aliens," Leonardo confirmed much to the surprise of the two humans.

"But that is not the strangest part about last night." Donnie chirped in, gaining the attention of the confused faces of the humans. "It's not?" Casey frightenedly asked.

"Those aliens... we discovered they were the ones responsible for the M-bomb," Donnie told them. "No way..." Casey blurted out. "You're not being serious are you?" April questioned.

"We saw it ourselves. The family we were supposed to rescue… we saw them be mutated with the green glowy ooze that mutated everyone." Leo confirmed again. The other turtles gave nods to confirm it. April leaned back into the couch, sighing and letting herself process everything that was entering her mind.

"Too bad that place exploded, we could've ratted them out." The youngest turtle said as he took another bite of his pizza in his hand.

A thought crept its way into April's head, "Not entirely. What if they have other places in the city? Think about it. If they are mutating people then they should have multiple places around the city, just in case one gets compromised."

"April's onto something there," Leonardo said. "But we're gonna need some serious upgrades if we're gonna go up against them again. They kinda... broke our weapons." Leo said embarrassed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Mom is definitely not gonna like that," Mikey added in as he took another bite of his pizza.

"Making new ones won't work, they'll break like the last ones." Raphael pointed out as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Unless we use their own tech..." Donnie said. "Use their tech?" Leo questioned. "If regular earth weapons can't destroy them, perhaps using their own tech against them," Donnie explained.

"But where would we even get that?" Raphael asked. "We use the metal from the robot bodies," Donnie answered. Everyone gave Donnie a frightened gaze. "Kinda morbid but it could work," Leo said.

"Are you sure you can make us new weapons?" Raphael asked his brother. "Of course I can... hopefully," Donnie said with the utmost confidence, muttering his last word. Raphael eyed him doubtfully then turned to face his leader, "Alright so what's the plan?"

"The plan would be to make our weapons first and then to track down all their hideouts and take them down," Leonardo explained to the group. "I can get started on the search using the city's cameras," Donnie stated. "I can help with that," April added. "Count me in on bashing some alien ass," Casey stated.

"It's a plan then!" Leo shouted out loud.

* * *

The sun was bright and high in the sky, no clouds to obstruct its light except for the black smog filling the air. The smell of burnt wood and metal engulfed the air around it. The source of the smell came from a burnt down building, one closed off to the public and gone into an investigation. The bright yellow "Do not cross" signs bordered the building. People in white hazard suits were spread out throughout the ashes, gaining any piece of evidence that could help investigators figure out the cause of the

burning of the building.

A tall, broad shoulder but a slender man wearing a black business suit with black sunglasses with his black hair combed back walked through the ashes. He gazed upon the ashes, also pondering the possibilities of the destruction of the building.

It hadn't been the first time he was out near a crime scene. In fact, he had already lost count. Someone of his occupation, this was just another day at a 9-5 job filling out paperwork. Though there were days where he would be involved in much grander things, today however was nothing more than another place to clean up.

"Sir!" A man in a suit called out to the one in black.

The man in black turned to face is caller, "What is it, agent Whittaker? Have we found the cause of this incident?" The man in black questioned the agent.

"Not yet sir, but we have discovered something strange about this building. Multiple substances that we don't know about, various types of chemicals not known to us, and the structure of the building being built by materials we do not recognize." Agent Whittaker explained. Coming close to the man, bring his hand to make sure no one else heard, he whispered: "We think it could be what we have been looking for, Agent Bishop."

The features on Bishop's face relaxed as he gave a smile toward Whittaker. Bishop turned around and started walking towards his car that was parked outside the scene.

He laid a hand on Whittaker's shoulder, "Keep me updated on everything you find on this investigation and get my team on it. It seems the fruits of our labor have finally been paying off from the past 16 years."

With that he retreated to his car and drove off, leaving the investigation team to further their work.


	3. The Foot Comes to New York

A couple of weeks had passed since the turtles had encountered the Kraang, small pink brain-like aliens in robot suits, the ones responsible for the mutagen bomb. The turtles had decided that they needed to be stopped, with the help of April and Casey, they've been able to locate other locations around the city where the kraang could be hiding. Donatello went ahead and upgraded his and his brother's weapons, using the metal of the Kraang's robot suits, allowing the turtles to actually damage the kraang.

Although the turtles think that the kraang is a one and done thing, they are completely wrong. Things are only just beginning for the turtles.

* * *

It was a sunny day for the city of New York, barely any clouds to hide away the beautiful azure color of the sky. A small private jet landed on an airstrip of the JFK international airport. The hatch door opened once the plane had connected to some mobile stairs, letting the passengers out. A tall, broad-shouldered man, sporting a luxury black coat with a red scarf wrapped around his neck exited the plane. Although his apparel framed a civil figure, his features showed a more rough character. His jawline and cheekbones were sharp, long black slick hair tied into a ponytail, a large scar laid on top of his left eye, giving more mystery of the one sporting it is. Next came out a short but muscular woman with neck length black hair, wearing a luxury black coat with knee-high boots. Both passengers entered a limousine that had been waiting at the bottom of the plane and drove off into the city.

Both passengers gazed through the window, admiring and taking in everything that New York had to offer. They must admit, it was different than what they were used too.

"This is the city of New York. I must say it does have its charm." The man spoke as he admired the architecture of the buildings.

"Not as beautiful as Japan, though." The woman said, remembering her home country. The man chuckled, "You do have a point there."

"I hope that this city will prove worth expanding our power. I do not want to waste my efforts in a city that will not benefit us." The man admitted. The woman put a hand on top of his. "Do not worry, father, this city will be ours." She reassured. The man gave a faint smile to his daughter, "Always so optimistic. Just like your mother."

The limousine stopped as it had reached its destination, a large skyscraper next to the Hudson River, coated in dark blue glass. Simple in its form yet very modern. The driver got out of the car and opened the door for the passengers. They got out of the car and entered the building to be met with a man in a suit.

He greeted them warmly, bowing once near them, "Sensei Saki, Karai, it is good to see you have made it here safely."

"A rather long flight but we are glad to be here, Nakamura," Saki admitted as he too bowed.

"Come then, sensei. I will show you the building." Nakamura said before leading Saki and Karai towards an elevator. He clicks the button for the top floor and the elevator begins to travel upwards. As they waited to reach the top floor, Nakamura began to make conversation.

"Most of the bottom stories of the building are reserved for your weapons company. We have prohibited them from accessing the upper floors as per your request. Only those with authorization may enter the top stories. The floors above the company house all the labs, weaponry, and training dojo's for your clan. There are also sleeping and living quarters for them. The last top floors are reserved for you and your elites. They house your weaponry, living quarters, and the dojo." Nakamura reported.

They reached the top floor and the doors open, the passengers walking out towards a hallway that broke off into three directions. They continued forward to the large ceiling high doors. Nakamura opened the door and Saki and Karai went inside, Nakamura following behind.

The dojo was rather large, larger than the one that Saki was used too in Japan. It was decorated with dark oak on the walls and columns holding up the ceiling. The floors were of dark marble and at the edges of it housed an aquarium with koi fish. In the middle of the room laid a large black chair with a moderately sized table in front of it, framed by a solid black wall with the symbol of a foot embroiled into a large banner. At the right of the room, there is a door that leads towards a helicopter and a gorgeous view of the river beneath it.

A tall, muscular, blonde man stood patiently in the room as Nakamura turned to introduce him. He towered over everyone in the room, his build has wide and his shoulders were broad. He had a tattoo of a purple dragon on his left arm, one reminiscent of how the Japanese depict the mythical creature.

"This man right here is Hun, the leader of the largest gang in New York, the Purple Dragons." Nakamura introduced. Hun came close to Saki and bowed.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, sir." Hun greeted as he straightened himself.

"Thank you, Hun. I hope your Purple Dragons prove to be as great as you say it to be." Saki said. "You don't have to worry about that, sir. I can assure you, we the purple dragons will follow all your orders." Hun reassured him.

"Good. Also, I prefer you to call me Master." Saki requested to which Hun agreed. Saki cleared his throat as he made his way towards his chair and sat down.

"Now onto business. Hun, are there any enemies I need to know about when trying to bring my faction here? I presume you would have some knowledge on that." Saki questioned.

"Yes, master. There are five mafia groups in the city and surrounding neighborhoods. They are very powerful and control much of the city." Hun explained. "I see. Is there more?"

"Mostly personal enemies of the dragons but they do not matter. We can handle them." Hun answered.

"If I may, who are your enemies? Perhaps we can use them to our advantage." Karai joined in.

"Mostly other gangs around the city. But there are these… four turtles who are the worst of them. They have been facing against us for the past 2 years. They're pretty tough and the only ones who have been able to hurt the dragons." Hun hesitantly explained, not sure how they would take having the dragons be beaten by a couple of mutants.

"Turtles?" Saki questioned. "But I wouldn't worry about them, they have nothing to do with the Foot," Hun reassured his master who heeds those words.

"Thank you, Hun. You may leave us now. Your first mission will be given to you once everything is settled. Make sure your Dragons are ready." He stated. Hun gave a final bow before exiting the room. Saki also waved Nakamura farewell as he went to continue his work.

Saki turned to face his daughter, "Karai, find recruits that are willing to join my army, I will start preparing our operations."

"Hai, father," Karai said.

Saki got out of his chair and put a hand on Karai's shoulder. He extends his other arm to the door and began walking towards it. "Come, let us rest now."

* * *

The sound of spray paint broke the quiet of the night. Michelangelo had grabbed his sprays and decided it was time to paint another barren wall of the city. Mikey was the only one who really lived up to his name, he had a knack for graffiti. Ever since he was small he would paint the walls of the sewers with drawings that would pop up into his head. It brought him joy to share his art with others.

His brothers had come along to watch him, chowing down on an extra-large pepperoni pizza that they got on the way. Every time one of the came along with their little brother they would always give him ideas.

Swallowing his last bite of pizza, Michelangelo gave one final spray to the wall of the building, completing another masterpiece. He turned around to his brother to find approval.

"So, what do you guys think?" He asked as he wiped the sweat off of his head with his forearm, careful of not spreading the wet paint from his hands.

The final product was a kraang out of its robot suit with the words kraang in bold pink and teal colors in a rough but futuristic font. His brothers applauded at his work.

"Nice work bro!" Raphael praised his little brother, who in turn appreciates the compliment.

"Seems you got a little inspired lately by those things," Donnie exclaimed as he got up from the ac unit he was sitting on and walked over towards the wall to get a closer look to the still fresh paint.

"The kraang might be bad guys but they are fun to draw," Mikey admitted to his purple-clad brother. He lifted his hand petted Mikey's head, Don's way of showing affection. Both started packing the spray paints back into the black and orange backpack Mikey had come with. The two eldest brothers got up from the ac unit.

"Let's head home now. Looks like nothing's happenin' tonight." Leo said as peered down onto the street, everything normal and quiet for once in their bustling and busy home.

"Guess again, fearless," Raphael said, gaining the attention of the other turtles. "Check this out." The turtles peered over the edge of the roof and saw what Raphael had pointed at.

"Purple Dragons," Raphael stated.

"What are they doing here?" Donnie pondered. They all stayed quiet, kneeling down near the edge of the roof, listening to the loud voice coming from the alleyway. They spotted the owner of the voice to be Hun.

"Come dragons! We got a job to do and we can't screw it up! Hurry into the trucks! We're gonna miss the shipment!" Hun barked at his men as they did what they were told. One by one they enter into black armored trucks.

"Shipment?" Leo mumbled, a bit confused at what they are planning.

"Just think about the pay that the master is gonna give us! Now move!" Hun barked again, this time giving motivation to his men before climbing into one of the trucks and driving off to who knows where.

"It looks like they're working for someone," Leo claimed as he got up from his knees.

"Is that good or bad?" Mikey asked. "That depends on who they're working for," Leo answered.

"Come on, let's go after them and see what they're up too," Raphael said as he started to get filled with adrenaline on just the thought of smashing some no good scums to the ground.

"Right, let's move before we lose them," Leo said before taking the lead and following the trucks. His brothers following close behind.

The turtles chased after the dragons all the way to a warehouse near the docks on the Hudson River. They infiltrate the building through the open windows and listen closely from the support beams.

"Everything is going smoothly master. The shipment is secure and is being loaded into the cars as per your orders sir." Hun stated into the phone that he held up his ear.

"Those mafia boys won't even know what hit 'em." Hun boasted to the caller. "We'll be out shortly." Hun cut the call and put his phone back into his pocket, turning his attention back to his men.

Leo signaled his brothers to drop down and stop the Dragons from escaping with the cargo. They sneak their way through the warehouse, taking out all the Dragons they ran into and hiding their unconscious beings away from plain sight.

"Hurry it up!" Hun roared to his men as they began getting the last of the cargo into the trucks. Hun noticed that some of his men were missing and decided to investigate. He peered around the corner of a cargo crate and saw his men unconscious. He looked up to see the turtles sitting on top of the crate.

Leonardo took the first move, jumping off the crate and kicked Hun in the face with his right foot. The other turtles soon followed by repeating Leo's kicks, pushing Hun back to the center of the warehouse.

Gaining his composure, he looked up and gave a sly smirk, "Look who it is. The turtles. Didn't think you'd show up."

"We wouldn't have if it were not for that loud ass voice you got." Raphael teased.

"Alright Hun, we can do this easy way or the hard way!" Mikey warned as he pointed his nunchucks at the bulking mass of muscle.

"Alright then, turtles. Let's do this the hard way. Foot! Attack!"

Suddenly a hoard of ninjas came out of the shadows, surrounding the four turtles.

"Ninjas?! Other than us?!" Donnie exclaimed as he and his brother back up against each other's shells.

"Come on, we can take them!" Leo said before lunging at the ninjas.

One of them got ready to strike at Leonardo. He dodged the attack and kick the ninja down to the ground. Leo gazed at the ninja and looked at the clan symbol that had been painted onto the black cloth. The symbol of a red foot adorned the ninja.

"A foot?" Leo pondered curiously. Something about that foot was familiar to Leonardo. An image popped its way to the front of Leo's mind, an image of his mother painting a red foot onto a piece of paper with the words Ashi no Ichizuko on the side. He pondered the image until realization hit him.

"The foot clan?!" He blurted out.

Being distracted, the ninja got up and swung his leg under Leonardo. Gaining focus, Leo sprung up and defend himself against his opponent. He was too strong for Leonardo and managed to get Leo open and kicked him into a pile for crates where he joined his fallen brothers as they too were best by the ninjas.

Hun stood and watched how the ninjas made handy work of the turtles. One of the dragons came up to him.

"The cargo is secured." He reported to Hun who smiled in delight. "Excellent. Let's move out!" Hun ordered as he, the purple dragons and the foot vanished from the scene, leaving the bodies of the unconscious turtles in the pile of crates.

Groaning filled the room as the turtles picked themselves up from the crates.

"Everyone good?" Donnie asked, using his staff to stand up.

"No... ow..." Raph groaned as he rubbed his lower back with his hand.

"My head hurts…" Mikey mumbled as he was helped up by Donatello. "Man, those guys hit like trucks…" Raph said.

Leo was distant from his brothers, he looked around the warehouse, his mind running towards the image of that foot.

"The foot… it can't be them… can it?" Leo said under his breath.

"Can't be what?" Raph asked him as he came to stand by him. Leo turned to face him. "Those guys… those ninjas, they wore the symbol of the foot. Hun even called them foot." Leo explained.

"Wait, you mean the foot clan? The one that mom told us about when we were kids?" Raphael questioned. "Yes! I saw the symbol on their clothes. It was the same one that mom showed us." Leo confirmed.

"But why would they be here in New York? Why would they team up with the dragons?" Mikey pondered.

"I… don't know actually…" Leo admitted.

"If the Foot is here, things just got a whole lot worse…" Donnie said after analyzing their situation.

Police sirens sounded from the outside of the warehouse, getting louder by every passing second. It was their cue to get out of there.

"Let's go. We'll discuss this at home." Leo said before he and his brothers retreated out of the building, just in time before the cops showed up.

* * *

Hun awaited for the elevator to stop at his desired floor. The doors opened once they hit the top floor of the building, Hun exited and walked his way to the large doors at the end of the hall. He opened them slowly and entered the dark candlelit room. He walked over to the chair that was set at the opposite end of the room and kneeled before it.

Oroku Saki leaned out to Hun, prepared to hear him.

"Was your mission successful, Hun?" Saki questioned him.

"Yes, master. Though, we did run into some... problems, the foot was able to take care of it." Hun reported. Saki smiled in satisfaction, "Excellent. You may leave now." Hun bowed before retreating from the room back into the hallway.

Saki turns to face his daughter who was standing beside him.

"How are things in Japan? How are my elites fairing there?" Saki asked her.

"It seems everything is going well in Japan, father. No need to worry. Your elites have had no trouble maintaining order there." Karai answered her father.

"Good. Also, I need you to explore the city, see its inner workings and possible blind spots from the authorities." Saki ordered her. "Yes, father."

He cups his daughter's face in his hand, "Take this as a bit of freedom from everything. Do what you wish in their city, but do not be seen."

Karai smiles at her father and leans her face in his hand. "Thank you, father."

* * *

The turtles soon arrived home all battered and beaten from their encounter with the foot. Their mother was on the couch watching her soap operas when she heard footsteps come from the entrance. She stood up and walked over to her sons.

"You're home." She said as she checked her sons for injuries. "Purple dragons?"

"Ugh… sorta." Raphael said while making his way towards the couch. "What do you mean 'sorta?'" Shen asked, confused about her sons choice of words. Leonardo came to her side and attempted to explain.

"This might sound crazy but… we kinda fought… the foot." Leo nervously explained.

Shen was frozen on the spot, her mind drawing a blank at the words she just heard. She slowly processed the information before talking again.

"W-What do you mean you fought the foot?" She questioned. This time, Donatello took over the explaining.

"Okay, we were chasing after the purple dragons because they were gonna steal something. Don't know what but that doesn't matter. When we got there some ninjas came out of nowhere and attacked us. During the fight, we saw the symbol of a red foot on their clothes. The same one you showed us when we were kids." He explained.

"And are you sure about this?" Shen questioned him, not fully convinced. Leo put his hand on top of her shoulder, "Mom, we're sure." That seemed to persuade her.

"But why would they be here in New York?" Shen wondered.

"That's what we wanted to ask you," Leo admitted to her. "Well, I don't really have an answer for you," Shen said.

"Well, that's not helpful," Raphael said out loud.

"But if those ninjas you fought are actually the foot, I want you four to be careful. They may not seem like much but they are extremely dangerous, especially if…" Shen captioned them before giving a pause, sudden images in her head that halted her speech.

"If what?" Mikey asked, wanting his mother to finish.

Shen inhaled and exhaled a breath, her hands clenching her staff tighter.

"I-If you encounter Oroku Saki." She finished.

"Your brother?" Mikey asked.

"Yes."

"We can take him, can we?" Raphael said.

"No!" She snapped at them. The turtles were taken back by her snap. It was rare for her to get so worked up at them, instilling fear into her sons whenever she did. Shen calmed herself down after her small explosion, breathing in slowly.

"No... Saki is far more skilled than you four put together. He can kill all of you in a matter of seconds. He is extremely dangerous, avoid him if you somehow happen to find him or if he finds you." Shen warned them, "Please..."

The turtles agreed with her warning. Shen gripped her staff tightly around her hand and began walking to her room.

"Get yourselves patched before you go to sleep. Goodnight my sons." Shen bid them farewell for the night as she closed the door to her room, leaving her sons in the living room in silence.

"That was weird." Mikey broke the silence, "She barely snaps at us."

"Is Oroku Saki really that dangerous?" Raphael pondered. "I mean... he can't be that tough right?"

"Mom never lies about anything, especially if it has something to do with her past life. We... have to take her word for it." Leo argued.

"Oroku Saki isn't what matters right now. The foot is. We need to know why they're working with the purple dragons and stop them if it turns out to be something bad which is most likely the case." Donnie argued.

"You think it's gonna be that simple?" Leo questioned him.

"Dude, we fought alien robots a couple of weeks ago. What's some ninja's gonna do to us?" Donnie countered him.

"Whatever. Let's go get some sleep, I'm tired." Leo said defeated as he stood up from the couch and made his way to the stairs that led to the second story of their home that housed their rooms.

Meanwhile, Shen searched through her drawer for something. She moved and shoved many things out of the way until she found what she was looking for. She grabbed it and took it out from the drawer. She sat her herself on the side of her bed and took a look at the item in her hand.

It was a picture, an old, worn, and crumbled picture. In the picture housed three people, two men, and one woman. Both men were tall, broad-shouldered, and muscular with black sleek hair with chocolate eyes. The woman was fair skinned, with black sleek hair and chocolate eyes like the two men. They were in black clothing, ninja clothing with armor plates covering their arms and chests. Each sported a different colored bandana, the two men wore a dark red and a dark green bandana respectively. The woman sported a teal one.

The ones in the photo were Tang Shen before she had become mutated, Hamato Yoshi, her late husband, and Oroku Saki, her adoptive brother. Oroku Saki... She had many fond memories of him but one dark stands out above the rest. Fire and blood fill her mind as she looks at his picture. She grips the photo tightly, creating more creases.

"_After so many years... why? Why do you have to come back?"_


	4. Karai

Karai had always wanted to go to New York City but had never had the chance until now. She was excited to see all of what New York had to offer, even if the city wasn't as great as Japan.

With the permission of her father, she was able to explore the city. She was near downtown so she wasn't far from home. She decided to explore outside of time square. She walked through an empty street and when she heard something following her. She kept herself sharp. She turned around just to make sure but there was no one. Suddenly her mouth was covered and was being dragged by some shadowy figure.

A few blocks away, the turtles were on patrol of the city tonight. There had been reported sightings of robots which sounded much like the kraang and the turtles decided to investigate. They perched themselves off the highest roof of the area and surveyed the streets.

"Donnie, you see anything?" Leo asked. Donnie looked through his goggles that he had made from kraang tech.

"Nothing. The streets are quiet." Donnie answered disappointedly.

"Damn." Raph groaned behind them.

"AAHHH!"

The turtles got to their feet.

"You guys here that?" Mikey asked. "Yeah." They replied. They listened again and perched themselves off the edge to find a visual.

"AAHH!"

They heard it again alongside with some gunshots, all too similar to the Kraangs. To the right of the street, flashes of magenta light shined, signaling the presence of the Kraang.

"There!" Mikey pointed.

"Let's go!" Leo said before hopping down the roof towards the action.

Karai, with all her might, held back the strange figures that tried to hold her captive. She dodged and kicked the robots that came after her, but there were too many of them to fight. She was trapped.

Suddenly help arrived in the shape of four mutant turtles. They all helped to take down the kraang one by one, breaking their robot suits to pieces.

They took a moment to catch their breath.

"Is that all of them?" Leo asked.

Donatello looked down at his arm bracelet to see that more was coming to their direction.

"More are coming this way." He said.

"Let's move!" He orders his team.

He turns around to meet with Karai. He helps her up and leads her towards the emergency stairs in the alleyway, climbing up the stair to meet up with the rest.

"Everyone okay?" Leonardo asked, making sure everyone was with him.

"Yeah, we're good," Raph reassured him.

Karai lets herself sit down at the edge of the roof, using her ninjata to lower herself onto the cold concentrate, then holding her arm in her hand. She had been shot by the kraang and was trying to stop the bleeding. Leo notices this and comes to help her.

"Your arm." He says, "It's bleeding."

"It's fine." She winced.

"It's going to get infected." Leo reasoned as he came to kneel in front of her, taking out a roll of bandages from his pocket for moments like these.

Although a bit hesitant, Karai let her turtle savior heal her. Removing her hand and extending it forward, Leonardo began patching it.

As the others took guard, making sure that the kraang were gone, Karai took the moment to look at her rescuers.

They were turtles, mutant turtles. Like the ones that Hun had told about. Could they be the ones fighting off the purple dragons? They all matched the description she was given. Four turtles sporting a different color bandana and ninja weapons.

But she didn't dwell on them for long, images of those robots flooded her mind. Who were they? Why were they after her? What were they?

Leonardo finished bandaging her arm, "That should hold."

Karai holds her arm close, making sure the bandage was right. She looked up to Leonardo, "Thank you."

"Coast is clear. We're safe." Donnie reported back, he and his brothers hustling back together. "Good," Leo responds.

Raphael takes a glimpse at the weapon the girl had with her. He immediately recognized as a ninjata, a straight blade Japanese sword, similar to a katana. He eyed his purple-clad brother who too had taken notice of the weapon, knowing full well what it could mean.

"What... were those things?" Karai finally speaks. The others were hesitant to reveal much about the kraang but decided to give her an answer.

"Those are called the Kraang, alien robots. They have been kidnapping people to experiment on them for a while." Leo explained truthfully but leaving out the part of them being responsible for the M-Bomb.

"Long story short, they're incredibly dangerous and should be avoided at all times." Raphael summarized.

Karai arched her eyebrow up, "Aliens?! You have to be joking."

"Nope," Mikey replied.

Karai was skeptical at their words but didn't want to dwell on it further. She was still on the idea of these turtles being the ones defeating the Dragons. She wanted to know more, perhaps get something out of them but she knew she couldn't come off that obvious. She sighed in response to the turtle's explanation.

"What are your names anyway?" She asked.

"I'm Leonardo, he's Raphael, that's Donatello, and that's Michelangelo," Leonardo answered, pointing to each turtle with their respective names. Karai snickered, "You're all Italian?"

"Nope, our mom just likes art," Mikey answered

"So what's your name?" Donnie asked this time. Karai took a moment to think about whether it was a good idea to reveal her name. She decided to go for it, seeing no immediate harm from it.

"My name is Karai, I moved here from Japan with my father not too long ago." She answered.

"So you're new here, huh? What's up with the ninja moves, you in some kind of clan or something?" Raph questioned. Leonardo caught on to his words and turned to give him a disapproved frown.

"My father was taught the ways of ninjutsu as a child and taught me as a young girl. So to answer your question, I am in no clan. Are _you_ four in some sort of clan?" Karai repeated the question to them.

Raphael was going to say something but Leonardo cut him off, "No, we're not."

Karai noticed the tension between the blue and red turtle and decided that it was time for her to make her leave. She stood up from the concrete with the help of her ninjata before putting it back into its scabbard.

"Hmph. I'd love to stay and chat a bit longer but I have somewhere to be and a wound to heal. Will I see you four again?"

"Most likely," Leo said with a smile. His brother caught on and eyed each other knowingly, smirking deviously.

Karai returned the smile before turning towards the emergency stairs on the other side of the roof. She gave the turtles one last look.

"Sayonara, kame."

With that, Karai was gone. Disappearing into the dead of night, leaving the turtles on the roof.

Leonardo turned to Raphael and gave him a slap to the arm. "What was that?"

"Ow! What was what?!" Raph yelped, his hand rubbing his arm.

"Don't play dumb, I know you were trying to see if she was in the Foot," Leo argued to his slightly younger brother.

"You don't see any other ninja's in New York running around unless they're the Foot," Raph argued back.

"Gotta agree with Raph on this one. She had a ninjata as her weapon, doesn't that scream ninja to you?" Donnie pointed out.

"But you heard what she said, she's not in a clan. We can take her word for it." Leo tried convincing them.

"And how do you know that?" Donnie countered. That seems to make Leo rethink his mind.

"It's... It's just a feeling I have." Leo said, averting his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest.

Everyone eyed each other and smiled knowingly, much to the annoyance of their oldest brother.

"What?" Leo asked.

"You like her!" Mikey blurted out. "W-What? N-No I don't!" Leo said, waving his hands frantically.

"Dude, it's written all over your face," Donnie stated as he leaned his body into his staff.

"I mean, she is kinda hot…" Raph admitted.

"Okay, Okay, I can't lie on that but I can assure you guys that I don't like her, at least like that," Leo argued. "Yeah, keep talking Fearless." Raph teased him.

"Leo has a girlfriend!" Mikey chanted over and over again much Leo's frustration. He sighed in defeat, "You guys aren't gonna let me live it down."

"Nope!" Mikey said in between chants.

"Come on, let's head home," Leo said before making his way down the emergency stairs to the manhole in the alleyway. The other quickly followed suit, whispering and teasing Leo behind his back.

* * *

Karai was able to arrive home safe and sound. No alien robots following her. She walked into the dojo where her father was training. Saki had stopped when he heard the door open. He turned around to meet his daughter only for his eyes to gaze upon her wound.

"What happened out there?" He asked worryingly.

"There is more going on in this city that you realize father," Karai says. "How so?" He questions.

"As I walked through an empty street I was attacked by men who wanted to kidnap me. Someone came to help and destroyed those men who were… robots controlled by these small brain-like creatures. They are called the kraang and from what I learned they kidnap people to experiment on them. To what they do I don't know." Karai explains.

"Is that how you hurt your arm?" He guessed. "Yes." She answers.

"Who was it who helped you?" Saki asked, looking over her arm to see it to be properly patched.

Karai became hesitant, who knew how her father would've reacted if he knew that those same turtles that had been causing him trouble were the same ones that saved her. But she couldn't lie, especially with a wound such as the one she bears on her arm.

"Mutants, who appear to have some quarrel with them." She said vaguely. That seemed to satisfy her father's curiosity.

"Will these… Kraang be a problem for us?" He asked her.

"I do not think so but-"

"Then we have nothing to worry about. If they do not pose a threat to us then we should not dawdle on them." Saki explains.

Karai bows her head, "Yes, father." Saki lifts up her chin.

"Do not feel ashamed daughter. I am just glad they did not do anything worse to you." He says, planting a kiss on her forehead. "Go and rest, you look rather pale."

"Yes, father."

* * *

Leonardo and Karai crossed paths with each other a couple of days later. Leonardo had gone out to do a solo run as he does whenever he gets bored at home. He mostly runs around the outer parts of the city but this time he decided to head within the heart of it. As Leonardo walked through the crowd of Times Square, he was able to spot a familiar face. Karai.

He pushed his way through the crowd to reach her, yelling out her name to get her attention.

"Karai!" He yelled, successfully getting the attention of the owner of that name.

"Leonardo." She said surprised. She hadn't expected him to meet him again.

"Coincidence to find you here. What're you doing?" Leo asked her as he managed to catch his breath.

"Exploring the city. A bit confusing to get around though." Karai told him, pulling back a piece of her hair behind her ear.

"I can show you around if you don't mind." He offered. "You?"

"Yeah! I know this town on the back of my hand. The streets, the subway, even the sewers." Leo boasted to her, making her chuckle a bit. That seems to bring a smile to Leo's face.

"Gross. Well, lead the way, Leonardo." Karai accepted his offer.

Leonardo was filled with joy, his mouth extending into a giant grin as he leads Karai through the city. He showed her all the cool stores, landmarks, and food places that the city had to offer. It was a lot to take in but Leonardo was able to make sure Karai wasn't overwhelmed. They had departed ways once Karai had to leave but she made sure she would see Leonardo again.

For the next couple of weeks, Leonardo hanged out with Karai around the city. Having someone to relax with was nice. She gladly enjoyed Leo's company and so did he. For Karai, it was a nice distraction from all the Foot and her father, for whom she didn't disclose. Neither did Leo talk much about his mother.

The rest of the turtles, though, still held doubts about Karai, especially Raphael. Though Karai seemed nice, there was still too much about her they really don't know.

In the dojo, Raphael and Leonardo were doing some extra training to sharpen their skills against the kraang and the Foot. They were alone, Raphael decided to use this time to talk to Leo in private.

"So, how has it been with your girlfriend?" Raph teased as he blocked a punch.

"She's not my girlfriend, and you know this," Leo said as he swung his leg. "I know, just giving you shit." Raph chuckled as he ducked.

"And to answer your question, it's been fun. She's cool."

"Oh really?"

"And I haven't seen any type of clue that she is in the foot clan if that's what you're wondering," Leo said. "Hey, you never know."

Leo threw a punch which was caught by Raph. He twisted Leo's arm and kicked the back of his knees and pinned him down to the ground.

"I win."

He got up and helped Leo up from the ground.

"I think that's enough for today," Leo said before making his way towards the door.

"Be honest. You like her don't you?"

Leo stopped midway, "I mean, she's pretty nice. Knows a lot about Japan and ninjutsu." Leo tried to change the subject but knew that his brother wouldn't let it go.

"Come on… spit it out." Raph insisted.

Leo sighed in defeat, "I... Yeah, I kinda like her, just a bit."

"Woah! Our fearless leader likes someone. She must be something then." Raph teased Leo playfully. "Yeah…"

"But something about her doesn't sit right with me," Raph said.

"Again with that?" Leo remarked.

"Hey, I'm telling you, she's hiding something," Raph argued. "Even Donnie finds her suspicious."

"And how do you know?" Leo asked him.

"A gut feeling, and you know whenever I get a gut feeling it's usually right. Look, I may be wrong but I'm just saying, you never know."

Raph walked out of the dojo, leaving Leo with his thoughts. Leo had to admit, he does have some doubts. He goes and grabs his swords and jacket from the living room and heads out. He needs to clear his head.

* * *

As he moved through the city on the rooftops, he spotted Karai near an old warehouse. He decided to go after her.

"Karai!" He yelled out from a few rooftops. She turned around, surprised by his arrival. He jumped down from the next roof, "I didn't expect you to be here."

"It... It is good to see you again, Leonardo." She says, her voice shaking at the beginning.

Leo took a glance at her outfit, all black with her chest, shoulders, forearms, thighs, and legs covered by shining metal armor. Her legs and arms wrapped in black bandages and her waist wrapped with red cloth. Her sword strapped to her waist as well. A full-fledged ninja outfit, or in her case, kunoichi outfit. That started giving him red flags.

"What're you doing here?" Leo asked curiously.

"Just out doing some work for my father. You?" Karai told him before returning the question.

"Just patrolling the city. As usual." He responded. "Actually I wanted to find you, to ask you something." He added.

"What is it?" She asked, diverting her gaze to the alleyway to see her foot soldiers doing an excellent job at handling the cargo she was meant to steal.

"You sure you're not in some clan or something to the like?" He asked.

Karai froze in place, not sure of what to say. _He knows._ She continued her gaze at her soldiers, trying hard to find words. She turns her head to face Leo who was waiting for an answer. The look of his face showed a hint of doubt but also trust. _Perhaps he doesn't know.  
_  
She gulped, "I have already given you my answer."

"I-I know. My brothers, they're... a bit suspicious about you. Being a kunoichi, perhaps they thought you were part of a clan." Leo explained.

"And do you believe that?" She asked him.

"No, in fact, the opposite. I believe you, I just want to make sure you know." Leo admitted to her. She sighed in relief, she was still safe.

"Why do you're brothers believe I am in a clan? What clan are you against?" She questioned. She knew now was the appropriate time to ask him this question. For all the times she was with him, she has tried to get information out of him regarding the foot but had come up fruitless, until now.

"Cause… we've been fighting this ninja clan called the Foot for months now and thought that you were in it because you're a kunoichi." Leo explained.

Bingo.

"You are fighting the foot?"

"Yeah. You… know about them?" Leo confirmed before asking a question.

"They are… well known in Japan. One of the reasons my father and I moved out here." She lied. "Why are you fighting them? What have they done to you?"

"We kinda fought them by accident. We mostly fight the gangs like the purple dragons and then they teamed up with the foot and we've been mixed up into this." Leo admitted to her.

To say she was surprised was an understatement.

"No personal vendetta or anything?" She asked him.

"No... we fight to protect our home, this city." He paused before sighing, "I guess you could say that we've been fighting for survival since the M-Bomb dropped." He leaned against the edge of the roof, looking down at the street below.

"Fighting is all I have ever known. I fight not because I want too. I fight because that is what I was born, raised, and modeled into. No matter if it is right or wrong." She said unconsciously.

There was a long pause between them, letting both their words sink in as they stared at the brightly lit city before them.

"The foot…" Leonardo started, "the Shredder… he... he murdered our father, a long time ago back in Japan."

"Is that the true reason why you and your brothers are fighting the foot?" Karai asked him.

"Not entirely but a small part of it. We never knew our father so the whole revenge thing doesn't have much to it but we don't want to do nothing about it. To put closure for what happened to him, for our mom especially. I know she just wants to move on but I can tell she wants closure." Leo explained.

Karai looks down towards the alleyway to find her foot ninja done with loading up the cargo she was stealing.

"I-I have to go. My father is waiting for me." She lies before heading down the emergency stairs, leaving Leo to ponder what she said.

* * *

"I will not stand for this type of failure! I have given you my army to use as you please to get the job done yet you somehow manage to fail me!" Saki roared in a fit of anger.

"I am deeply sorry Master Saki. The turtles-" Hun tried to apologize but Saki was having none of his excuses.

"Those turtles are merely children and yet those children have been able to beat you every time you encounter them. I am starting to think that hiring you was a mistake." Saki yelled again, crossing his arms on top of his chest.

"I swear Master, I will not fail you again. I swear it on my life." Hun bowed his head in shame.

"I hope you are right on that. Leave me."

Hun picks himself up from the floor and makes his way to the door. As the door shut, saki turned his attention to Karai who was standing beside him.

"Karai." He said.

"Yes, father?" She responded.

"As you can see, Hun has failed me much too many times by those turtles he mentions. So I have a special mission for you." He said. Karai gave him his full attention.

"I want you to find those turtles and destroy each and every one of them. I don't want any more failures coming from Hun." He ordered.

Karai tensed, muscles contracting. She had thought that the turtles would be nothing but a nuisance but it seems they are more than what they appear. She didn't want to hurt them. She did not want to hurt Leonardo, especially the talk they had the other night. But she had no other choice.

She sighed, "Yes, father."

* * *

It was the next night and Karai had been out searching for the turtles. Searching high and low the city to find them. She stopped on a roof and looked over the city view, the dark sky lit with a range of colored lights. It reminded her of her home back in Japan.

She unsheathes her ninjata from its scabbard, her eyes fixed on the reflection of the smooth, hand made metal.

_I am tasked with eliminating the turtles. Though honor bound to the clan, my father… I cannot bring myself to kill innocent blood. I have seen too much blood be spilled by the clan and by myself._

_They are not enemies to the foot, they are innocent. Warriors wanting to just survive. Perhaps I can prevent more blood to be spilled._

Karai continues her search for the turtles, ultimately finding them near the outskirts of the city in the lower east side. She heads towards them and jumped onto their roof, alerting the turtles.

"Karai. What're you doing here?" Leo asked surprised.

"Turtles, there is something important I have to tell you." She said, keeping her distance from them.

Raphael eyes her closely, the kunoichi outfit drawing many red flags. He eyes his brother Donnie who seems to get the picture too. The air between them and Karai become tense.

"As some of you have suspected, I am part of the Foot Clan, the same one you four have fought alongside the purple dragons. The leader of the Foot and my father sent me to kill you all." Karai confessed, lowering her head and averting her gaze.

"I knew it! I knew you were hiding something!" Raph blurted out as he got ready to charge her. Leo and Don were quick to hold him back.

"Raph don't!" Leo told him, wrapping his arms around his arm.

Raph was able to break free from their hold and charged at Karai, taking his sais out and striking at her. Being quick herself, she was able to block the sais with her ninjata.

"Please! I do not want to fight you!" Karai shouts to him, stilling holding him back.

"Tough luck! You should've thought about that before coming over here." Raph said back.

Karai manages to get Raphael off of her, sending him back a couple of feet. Raph rams in for another shot but Leo comes in between them and stops him, much to the turtle's confusion.

"Stop! I won't let you hurt her!" Leo shouts, his arms extending outward to protect Karai.

"Dude! What side are you on?! You're protecting the enemy!" Raph shouted.

"Stop! Please!" Karai pleaded.

The turtles stayed quiet and gave her their attention.

"I do not want to fight. I have already spilled too much blood just for the sake of my clan. I do not want more to be spilled. My father sees you as a threat to the clan and wants you four dead." She starts explaining. The others began to relax.

She continues, "I do not want to do this, you four have nothing against us. You have just been mixed up in something that you do not belong in. Please, to save more blood from being spilled, stop fighting us. Please, stop the fighting." She pleads.

"We can't do that. This is our city, our home. We come up here every night to protect it." Leo tried to reason but it was futile.

"Leonardo, you have to listen to me. The Foot clan is more powerful than you think. None of you stand a chance against us." Karai reasoned.

"Karai…" He comes close to her, his hands reaching for her.

"I'm trying to save your lives... just like you saved mine."

Karai steps back, her hand reaching behind her back.

"Do not find me anymore. I… I'm sorry." She says before throwing a smoke bomb, concealing her escape, preventing the turtles from following her.

"You were right... I should've listened to you guys. I'm sorry." Leo apologized.

Donatello was the first to comfort him, coming next to him and rest his hand on his shoulder.

"Don't be. Even though Raph and I were right from the start, you had good intentions." Donnie said.

"I know she's good."

"The things she's gone through, I don't know much about but... I can tell she's telling the truth."

Leo bows his head, his eyes gazing to the concrete floor. Mikey comes and gives his brother a hug, an act that he does often to cheer him up.

"C'mon, let's go home," Raph said before making his way off the roof with the others following behind.

Leo looked back at the spot where Karai disappeared before continuing on with his brothers.

Karai arrives back to her father, kneeling on one knee and bowing her head down in an act of shame.

"Was your mission successful?" Saki questioned his daughter.

"No father, the turtles were too powerful for me to handle on my own. They were able to get away. I am sorry." She lied.

Saki somehow bought it.

"I see. They are more powerful than I thought. It seems I will have to bring my elites to New York if I want to get rid of them. Go and rest Karai." He says, sending her off.

"Yes, father." She says before leaving the room to her own living quarters.

She stands beside the large windows in her room, looking down at the view of the city.

_Please, no more blood._


	5. Mr Jones

It was an awfully chilly night for early September. Summer has been coming to a close and fall was just around the corner. The streets were more empty than usual, summer break had ended and everyone is back to their mundane routines of life.

Casey and Raphael were on the rooftops messing around with golf balls, shooting them at different objects around them. They had also been accompanied by Angel, a childhood friend of Casey Jones who he had saved from joining the dragons a few years back.

Casey gripped the club tightly and swung, the ball hitting the already busted satellite dish from a roof over.

"Another ten points!" He boasted.

"You almost hit that window." Raphael teased.

"Almost." Casey scoffed, "Let's see if you can hit that satellite dish."

"Pfft. Easy!" Raphael got another golfball out and practiced his shot. He swung his club and the ball hit the dish like he said it would. He turned his head back to face Casey, a smug grin clear on his face.

"How was that?" He asked, getting close to his Casey's face.

"I have to admit, it was impressive," Casey responded smugly.

Casey towered over Raphael who was still pretty short against him even while on his tippy-toes. Their little scene made Angel laugh.

"Hanging out with you guys never gets old." She says before jumping off the air conditioner she was sitting on. "You guys getting hungry? I'm starving."

"Yeah. How about some pizza?" Raph suggested as he handed Casey the golf club to put in his already full duffle bag.

"Sure. The last one to the pizza shop gets to pay!"

Angel began sprinting off to the pizza shop, leaving the two behind in the dust. Both hotheads followed quickly behind her.

* * *

"I always pay for the pizza," Casey complained as he took a bite of his supreme pizza.

He was sitting alone on one side of the table next to the window with his duffle bag in the other chair. Raph and Angel sat on the opposite side with Raph sitting next to the window.

"Not our fault you can't run fast," Raph said.

"You're a turtle! You should not be that fast. There has to be a secret to that." Casey pointed out to the mutant turtle.

"The secret is… mmh… being a mutant." Raph answered while taking a bite out of his pizza, the cheese stretching and drooping from his mouth.

"Well, that's not helpful." Casey frowned, taking another bite from his pizza as he lays his head against his hand.

He looks out the window and sees a robbery across the street at a jewelry store. He sees some men with purple tattoos on their arms. The purple dragons.

"Those purple dragon scums!" He said before chowing down his pizza. Getting up from his seat, he grabs his duffle bag and heads out the shop.

"Wait! Casey wait!" Raph called out to him.

Angel got up from her chair and went after him, leaving behind Raphael who grabbed the last slices of pizza and shoving them into his mouth before following his friends.

"Hey!" Casey called out, startling the thieves. The start hurrying away from the streets, with Casey following close behind.

"Get back here!" Casey shouted as he turned the corner of the street. Raphael and Angel soon were able to catch up to him, running shortly behind him. They tracked down the escapees down to an old run down warehouse. They entered inside to find a large number of purple dragons inside. Hun, the leader of the dragons, standing in the middle of them.

"Shit." Raph cursed.

"Oh ho! Look who came to the party!" Hun announced to his followers.

"Hun!" Casey shouted, grabbing a hockey stick from his bag. Angel grabbed a bat from his bag while Raph got out his sais.

"Dragons, you know what to do," Hun said.

The dragons started fighting against them, using any weapon they could find. One ran towards Casey and swung a crowbar near his head. Casey dodged it and swung his hockey stick in retaliation.

The fight went on for a while, the dragons not letting up one bit. Casey managed to get some off his back, he turned to face Hun who was sitting idly by, away from the fight. He points his stick at him.

"Why don't you come and face me, Hun?! What?! Too scared to fight me?!" Casey threaten.

"Scared?! Ha! In your dreams kid!" Hun laughed.

Hun and Casey started fighting each other. Casey used every single weapon he had in his bag as Hun broke each and every one. Casey got good hits on Hun and did some damage but Hun wasn't having it. Hun gave Casey equally as hard punches.

"Stupid kid! Don't you realize that you can't beat Hun, the Purple Dragon!" Hun exclaimed as he punches Casey's stomach, sending him back a couple of feet.

"Heh… I've beaten guys tougher than you." Casey said as he wiped the blood running from his mouth.

"What do you think of this?!" Hun questioned him.

Hun charged and punched Casey square in the face, knocking off his mask and knocking Casey to the ground.

Hun stood over him, "Is that tough for ya?"

Casey lifted himself up from the floor, fists up in the air, still ready to fight.

"Not even close." He said.

Hun stared blankly at his face, something in his mind began remembering something. Someone. His son. The son he had left behind. The kid in front of him looked exactly like his kid. Could it be him? He didn't know. He continued to stare blankly at him, going a few steps back.

"S-Son?" Hun questioned.

"Son?" Casey repeated confused at the sudden word.

Something too in Casey's mind started remembering something but was cut off by Raphael running after him.

"Casey!" He cried as he sucker punched Hun who's knocked into the ground. He goes and picks up Casey from the floor.

"What're you doing?! Let's go!" Raph told him.

Casey looked around to find most of the dragons defeated. The others did good handy work on them.

"You gonna stand there all night?" Raph broke Casey out his daze. Shaking head, he mumbled an apology before both made their way out the warehouse.

They met up with Angel who was already outside waiting for them.

"Took you two long enough." She said as she handed back her bat to Casey who put it back in his duffle bag.

"Fun night I must say. You guys know how to make a girl have a good time." Angel said, stretching her arms.

"We always have a good time." Raph responded before turning his gaze to Casey, "Right Casey?"

Casey was blanked out, his gaze on the entrance of the warehouse. Raph looked back at Angel who got worried.

"Bro, you okay?" Raph asked as he planted his hand on his shoulder, shaking him to break his trance. Casey jerked from the shake, turning his gaze to the green mutant.

"S-Sorry." He mumbled.

"Did something happen?" Angel asked him.

"When I was fighting Hun, he... he said something weird to me." Casey told her.

"How weird?" Raph asked him.

"He... He said... son. Like kid son... to me." Casey explained.

"But why would he say that?" Angel pondered.

"I don't know but when he said it... something in my mind kinda... I don't know how to say it but..." Casey explains further.

"Something got triggered?" Raph suggested.

"Yeah! I don't know what though." Casey admits.

They all stayed silent, the sounds of cars and the wind broke the silence.

"I... we should go..." Casey said before started making his way back to his home, leaving Raphael and Angel behind. They decided not to follow, knowing full well Casey needed to sort this out on his own. They departed not long after.

* * *

It was already 3 am and Casey still hadn't fallen asleep. Something wouldn't let him sleep. He tossed and turned in his bed, the sheets and blankets ruffling up. He rubbed his face in an attempt to clear his head.

The word 'son' continued to play in his head like a broken record. He couldn't take it anymore.

He lifts up his blanket and throws it to the side of his bed. He gets off the bed and walks out his room to the direction of his basement. He switches the light on and makes his way to the storage shelf. He grabs a couple of boxes that he thought contained was photographs. Opening the lid, he began scavenging through the small piled of photos of his childhood.

He opened another box, only one photo album was inside. He picked it up and skimmed through it. Most of the photos were of him when he was a kid. Nothing came up. He looked defeated and let the album hang from his hand. An envelope suddenly fell out of it.

He took it and opened it. It was more photographs but they were different. He flipped through them and stopped at a specific one. It was one of him, his mother, and… his father. Hun.

He couldn't believe it. He was drawing blanks. Just… how could he be his father? How did he not even realize it?

He put the photo in his pocket and put everything back. He had to get some real answers. He walked back upstairs and waited in the living room, his mother was his last chance for answers.

Hours pass by and Casey managed to get stay awake. His mother came out of her room and was surprised to find her son already awake.

"Y tu que handas despierto (What are you doing up so early)?" She says to her son as she makes her way to the kitchen. Casey, half asleep, jolts up from the couch and goes after her.

"Ma, can I talk to you?" He asked.

"Si mi hijo. What is it?" She said as she poured herself a cup of coffee. She gestured him to the table to sit which he did.

"What do you want to talk about?" She asked him, taking a sip from her mug.

"It's about... dad." He says hesitantly.

Her eyes widened at the response, she sets her mug carefully on the table.

"What… about him?" She asks him.

Casey looked her dead in the eyes, the back of his throat swelling up and forming a knot.

"Is Hun… my father?" He asked.

She stared blankly at her coffee, not sure what to say.

"Ma… is he my dad?" He asked again, this time taking out the photo he had found. "The leader of the purple dragons, is... is he my dad?"

"Si..." She answered.

To say he was shocked was an understatement. Hun, the leader of the purple dragons, one of the most wanted in the city, the guy that he had been fighting against for years now was indeed his father.

He took a deep breath to calm himself. He grabbed his mother's hands in his.

"What happened?"

She took a deep breath.

"I met your father when I was working in the old bar back when I had finished school. He was a gentleman to me, bringing me flowers every time he came. Soon he had won my heart and I went to live with him. He and I ran the purple dragons together. It was a good life... then we found out I was pregnant. We ended up decided to settle down. I had left the life of the dragon behind to raise you. Your father, however, wanted to continue that life. Though I tried to convince him to stop, he wouldn't listen. We argued nearly every day, frightening you awake at night. That's when he had enough. He packed his things and left. I was furious with him and I knew I didn't want you following in his footsteps so I lied about him in hopes of keeping you safe."

"And I didn't," Casey says. She nods. Casey gets up from his seat to give his mother a hug.

* * *

Bottles of liquor and buds of cigars littered the floor. Tapping was the only sound in the room. Hun had been up all night since his fight with Casey Jones. He could still remember the kids face, it reminded him too much of someone else.

"It... It can't be him..." He mumbled to himself as he took another sip of his whiskey.

"It can't be... my son." He said as he continued to ponder. But something in his gut told him that it was. That kid was his son. But would he think of his old man being the leader of the dragons? He wouldn't like that. Unless he could convince him to join the dragons, he could get some pressure off his back. It was worth a shot.

He stood up and finished chugging the last of the whiskey and dropped it to the floor, the glass shattering on impact.

* * *

It was cold, the night blew harder than previous nights. It had been a couple of days after Casey's sudden realization, he had decided a walk would help him clear his mind. He turned the corner and stopped when he rounded it.

Hun was there.

"Kid-" He called out but Casey cut him off. He took out his hockey stick and pointed it at him, ready to fight.

He brought his hands up in the air, "I'm not here to fight you."

"You're not?" Casey said, lowering his stick, his stance relaxing. "What are you here for?"

"It's.. about our last fight. Look... what I said..." Hun started.

Casey knew where this was going. He took a deep breath before speaking.

"I know... I know. You're... my dad." Casey said to him.

"Oh, so you know."

"Yeah."

They stayed silent, letting the fall breeze wash over them. Everything was tense.

"Listen, kid. I... I'm sorry for not being there for you... for your ma..." Hun admitted though Casey knew it wasn't genuine.

"It doesn't matter." Casey told him, knowing where his words led.

"Look, we could catch up. I can be the dad you needed." Hun told him. "We can be a family but only if you decide to join the purple dragons."

There it was. The catch. Casey shook his head in disappointment.

"Yeah, no. Sorry 'pops' but I'm not joining you dragon scum." He said.

"Think about it. We can be a family! I can finally be a father to you!" Hun insisted.

"Don't pull that dad crap on me! Just because you're my dad doesn't mean that I'm just gonna join your side. Besides, I've been fine without a dad! In fact, I think I'm better off without a dad." Casey shouted back. "I know what the good and bad looks like and you're clearly bad. I've been fighting you for the last two years and I'm not thinking of stopping. So why don't you get lost, 'pops'."

Casey turns around and walks away, leaving Hun alone.

"That's how it's gonna be, huh? Fine, have it your way. But be warned, Casey, I will not stop."

* * *

Casey sat on the edge of a rooftop that was facing Central Park. He held the photo of him and hun in his hand.

"Hey…" Someone called out. Casey turned around and it was Raphael.

"Hey…" He replied before turning back around, his arms wrapped around his leg, laying his head on his knee. Raphael came next to him and took a seat beside him.

"You've been quiet lately. Something wrong?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Casey mumbled as he adjusted his position, bringing his leg closer to his chest.

"Try me," Raph said.

"So I found out that um… Hun… he's my dad." Casey told him.

Raph stared blankly at Casey with wide eyes. His brow curved, "You're kidding right?"

"Nope. I got proof." Casey said before handing him the photo he held in his hand. Raph observed the photo and as quickly as glanced at it the quick his jaw dropped. He moved his gaze back and forth from his best friend to the photo.

"No way!" Raph couldn't believe it.

"Kinda shocked too but it's true. My ma' even told me it's true." Casey confirmed.

"But how did you find out about it?" Raph asked him.

"Remember when I told you what Hun said to me? Well, I dug out the old photo albums from my basement and found the picture." Casey explained.

"Why didn't you know about him being your dad?" Raph asked.

"He left my mom to be with the dragons when I was pretty young. My mom didn't want anything to do with him and so she never told me anything about him. She only said that he was dead to the family." Casey explained further.

Raph pulled the picture up to Casey's face and compared him to Hun. He sneered, "You look nothing like him."

"Of course not! Why would I want to have his ugly mug!" He joked, letting out a much-needed laugh. He sighed and got up from his spot. He adjusted his duffle bag and grabbed his hockey stick. "You up for some old school beaten'?" He asked his mutant friend.

"You know it."

He helped him up from the floor and both headed wherever trouble was lurking.


	6. Elites Ninjas

It was another calm night in the city of New York. In foot headquarters, Saki was waiting patiently for guests to arrive, drinking tea to pass the time. The doors suddenly opened and in came three men, two soldiers, and an old man.

The two soldiers, both named Honshu and Ocho respectively, were part of the elite group foot ninjas, the best of the best out of the foot. Both men wore all black armor with metal plates covering their chests, shoulders, arms, and legs. Honshu wore an additional helmet, concealing his face.

The old man, named Cheng, was short with white hair and a long beard. He wore a white yukata with an ohenro hat. He carried a staff and had a slight hunch.

Saki gets up and goes to welcome them.

"Welcome to New York. I am pleased to see you have arrived safely." Saki greeted them.

"A rather long trip but we are pleased to be here," Cheng says.

"How is everything in Japan? Are things still under control." Saki asked his soldiers.

"Hai, Sensei. Everything is under control and you must not worry, we have nullified the Yakuza threat." Honshu answered.

"That is good to here."

"Good? It is fantastic Saki. Rejoice! Bask in that new found power!" Cheng told him.

"Heh… of course."

"Now that the Foot controls Japan, what is our objective here sensei?" Ocho questioned.

"We are here to expand the power of the foot to the west, starting with this city. It is very vulnerable and there are many who would join at the slightest inkling of reward. But I had not expected so many others also trying to take over the city. The Italian mob is one of our biggest enemies here, they will prove most troubling." Saki explained.

"We can handle them, Sensei," Honshu reassured him.

"That I know. There is just the problem of… four turtles." Saki continued.

"Turtles, sensei?" Ocho sneered much to the disapproval of Honshu.

"Four mutant turtles have been compromising some of our operations. Though the purple dragons have claimed to fight them off, they are still beaten by them." Saki explained.

"These turtles… they must be pretty good if they have interfered with us." Ocho inferred.

"Unfortunately. They are more formidable than I had previously thought." Saki admitted embarrassingly.

"I am assuming you want them eliminated," Honshu predicted.

"Yes. I want the both of you to accompany the purple dragons tomorrow night on their next mission. It is very likely they will strike again. If the turtles happen to show, put an end to them." Saki ordered.

"Hai, Sensei!" Both soldiers complied and bowed to their master.

"Go and rest. Prepare for tomorrow." He said, gesturing their leave.

Both soldiers made their way out of the room, leaving only Cheng and Saki to converse. Saki grabs the teapot and pours Cheng a cup of green tea which he gladly takes. He glows away the steam and takes a sip, the drink warming his insides.

"I think those turtles you say can be a benefit for you than if you want them dead," Cheng states.

"You have barely gotten here, how do you know such things?" Saki questioned him.

"Saki, I have been in the foot since your father became jonin, I have seen many challenge the foot and few actually posed worthy to be part of the foot. And being a master of mystic arts, I receive premonitions of many things. Besides, just by hearing your explanation, anyone could infer that these turtles could be useful to us in our conquest for this city." Cheng explained as he took another sip.

"You think so?"

"If they defeat Ocho and Honshu, then yes. But we'll have to wait and see."

"Wise as always, Cheng."

His mouth turned up sinisterly. "Of course, Saki."

* * *

It was the next night and the turtles were on their nightly patrol over New York. Jumping across rooftop to rooftop, they arrived at an old run down warehouse. They perched themselves on the edge of the roof. Donatello brought down his binoculars from where they rest on his head and observed inside the warehouse.

"You see anything, Don?" Leonardo asked him as he observed the outside of the building.

"I see a lot of purple dragons. They seem to be stealing cargo. I see Hun with a dozen men carrying the cargo and another dozen on the lookout. 25 guys give or take." The purple turtle explained.

"Shouldn't be too bad. We've handled worse." Raphael pointed out as he stretched out his arms.

"First we'll take out the power, go in and take them down. Raph and Mike take down the guards. Don and I will take out the cargo men. After that, we move in and take down Hun." Leo explained the plan.

"Sounds like a plan."

"Let's go!"

The turtles jump to the roof of the warehouse and Donnie goes takes out the power by frying the circuits with his staff. With the building pitch black, they go in and start taking down the dragons.

"Dragons! Report!" Hun yelled out.

He got no answer. He was suddenly knocked down to his knees by Raphael swing his leg under him.

"Man, that felt good." He said.

"The turtles… glad you could join tonight. I have some new friends that are dying to see you." Hun told them, picking himself up from the floor.

"More dragons for us to beat up?" Raph teased.

"You'll see."

Small, shining, metal shurikens flew from the second floor of the warehouse towards the turtles who were quick to deflect them. Two ninjas in black and metal armor into the light as they perched themselves from the railing on the second floor, their weapons, an odachi and a katana, unsheathe and ready to strike. Hun took this chance to escape the warehouse, much to the dismay of the turtles.

"So… these are the turtles we were told about. I must say, you four are impressive warriors. Then again you are merely dealing with common thugs." The ninja without a helmet said.

"Who are you?" Leonardo questioned the two ninjas, his katana pointing upwards towards them.

"Oh, where are my manners? I am Cha Ocho, one of the foot clans finest assassins. My partner here is Honshu, also an assassin. He may be silent but he is certainly very deadly." He introduced himself and his partner. "We are part of the Foot's elite group. You could say, we are the best of the best."

"Why is the Foot clan joining up with thugs like the purple dragons?" Raph questioned them.

"This is only a temporary partnership," Ocho answered.

"Enough talk! You turtles have interfered with our plans for far too long. We are sent here to put an end to that." Honshu stated, pointing his katana towards the turtles.

The turtles stood their ground, weapons in hand and ready to strike. Both elites dropped down from the second floor to the main floor before making their first move.

Honshu was the first to strike, charging at Leonardo and swinging his sword only cutting through Leonardo's right sleeve, leaving a small cut in his skin, as he had moved out of the way.

Ocho soon joined in the fray by going after Donatello, striking at the purple turtle with fast hard blows from his odachi.

Raphael, with both sais in hand, charged at Honshu while he was distracted with Leo. Honshu caught a glimpsed of the red turtle, he spins and kicked Leo into Raph, sending both turtles flying back into a pile of crates at the other end of the floor.

Michelangelo ran up behind Ocho and wrapped his nunchaku around his neck, trying to limit his air supply. Ocho managed to grab Mikey from his hoodie and flip him over, sending him falling to the ground.

Donatello managed to get some hits on Ocho but he let himself get open, allowing Ocho to grab his staff and throw him into his youngest brother who was just getting up from Ocho's attack. Both were sent back to the pile of crates that Leo and Raph were knocked into.

"Hmpf, pathetic," Honshu said.

"I thought they would be more of a challenge. Nothing more than a bunch of kids." Ocho said disappointedly, crossing his arm over his chest.

The sounds of groans and moans left the turtles as they began collecting themselves. The impact of being thrown into the crates did a number on them. They all sat themselves up, rubbing various parts of their bodies.

"Man, these guys are tough." Mikey pointed out, rubbing the back of his head.

"You said it." Donnie agreed.

Leonardo glanced up towards the ceiling and spotted various sprinklers situated along long support beams. He then turns his gaze over to Donatello's bo staff, the ends of the staff having charged electricity within them. An idea popped into his head.

"The sprinklers!" He blurted out. "Don and Mike, you guys keep those two distracted. Raph and I will set off the sprinklers, once that happens, Mikey, use your manrikigusari and Don, fry 'em up." Leo explains to his brothers who nodded in agreement.

They got up and split up, Don and Mikey running after Ocho and Honshu while Raph and Leo ran up to the sprinklers.

"Mikey." Don called out. "The shadows," He pointed out.

Using the power outage of the building, Don and Mikey moved around through the shadows that the second floor created on the main floor. They threw shurikens at the elites, keeping them on their toes. One shuriken cut Ocho's cheek and stuck itself into a wooden beam. He turned to gaze at it and recognized the symbol engraved into it.

"Hamato?!" He blurted out in shock but was not able to linger on it as Donnie attacked him, sweeping him off his feet with his staff.

Meanwhile, Leo and Raph climbed up the wooden columns and activated the sprinklers, breaking off the caps, letting the water soak the entire building.

"Water?" Honshu noted as his armor began getting soaked.

"Mikey, now!" Leo cued his youngest brother.

Mikey wrapped both elites with his manrikigusari, using his foot to have better support to keep them escaping.

"Now Don!" Mikey cued his brother as his grip began slipping from the chain due to the water.

Donnie struck his staff at the captives and electrocuted them, the orange turtle letting go of the chain to not get himself electrocuted. The elites fell unconscious and collapsed to the floor. The water from the sprinklers finally subsided, Leo and Raph climbed down and met up with their brothers.

"Finally…" Mikey said as he unwrapped the elites and wrapped his manrikigusari back into his pocket.

"They weren't lying when they said they were the best of the foot," Donnie admitted as he held his side, a bruise was going to form for the next week.

"Looks like things are getting more serious. They're pulling out the big guns now." Raph said.

"Let's go before the cops show up," Leo said before making his way out of the warehouse. His brothers following behind one by one, Raph helping Don, putting his arm over his shoulder.

After the turtles had left, Ocho began gaining consciousness, his body was sore and burnt. He sat himself up from the ground but quickly jerked his hand away. His finger had been cut by a shuriken that was left on the floor. He picked it up and inspected it. He wasn't seeing things, it had the Hamato symbol engraved on it. He put it into one of his pockets and got up. He helped Honshu up as he started to gain consciousness and both left the warehouse.

* * *

The turtles were home, patching up their wounds they suffered from the Foot Elites. Leo and Donnie had the most cuts while Raph and Mikey had the most bruises. They were sitting in the living room, watching some late night cartoons with their mother who had been waiting for them. Leo and Raph were on the couch with Donnie in the armchair on the left side of the room. Mikey was sitting on the floor in front of Tang Shen who was sitting on the other armchair, his head laying on her legs as she rubbed his head, something she would do for him when he was a child.

"You boys should consider yourselves lucky to be alive right now." Tang Shen spoke, breaking the comfortable silence.

Leo perched his head sideways, confused on her words. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"You just faced off against Foot elites and barely made it out alive." She explained which only made her eldest son more confused.

"What's wrong with that?" Leo asked again, still not clear on her words.

"Nothing just... the fact that your enemies are getting stronger and more difficult to beat... it worries me." She admitted.

Silence fell over the room again, the tv keeping it from being totally silent. Her sons knew she was about to start another of her worry rants again. They have grown used to them but lately, they've been occurring more often than normal.

Sighing, Shen spoke, "I know you boys love saving the city, I see nothing wrong in it but... you must understand that you cannot simply go after every single bad guy in the city. Your fight against the foot has escalated to a point of almost no return. They are not a group to be messed with, and I'm telling you because it is true."

"But we've beaten them many times before." Donnie reasoned with her, trying to end her rant before she continues to go off. Unfortunately, that didn't work.

"That is because you were merely dealing with common soldiers. Now you are dealing with enemies who are far stronger and more experienced than you. You were only able to defeat them because of luck. What if you were somewhere else than that warehouse?" Shen argued.

Raphael was getting sick of this. He stood up from the couch and turned his attention towards his mother.

"Ok sure, we may have had some luck but what is your point?" He asked, frustratingly.

"My point is..." She paused, "I want you to stop fighting the foot."

"What?!" The turtles blurted out in shock. They weren't expecting this.

"Mom, you can't be serious." Leo didn't want to believe her words.

"My sons, I want you four to be safe but you can't be if you continue to search out the foot." She explained to them.

"So you want us to stop fighting for the city?" Mikey questioned.

"Not the city, just the foot. I know how powerful they can be, I have witnessed their wrath once before. I want to spare you from that wrath before…" She paused again, she didn't want to finish her thought. The image of fire burn in her brain.

"Before what?" Leo broke her trance.

"Before he... before things get worse and you boys fall deeper into a hole you cannot climb out of." She managed to finish.

They stayed silent.

"Before Oroku Saki comes and gets us," Leo said, knowing what her mother meant by her words.

Shen didn't answer her son's sentence, knowing full well he understood its true meaning

"Mom..." Raphael started but his mother shot him an angry glare.

"Do not bring your father into this!" She snapped at him.

He stood there silent, surprised by the tone of her words.

She sighed, "You boys have to trust me. Stop the fighting with them, that is the only way you can be safe. Please."

Her sons stayed silent, there was no convincing their mother of fighting the foot. She grabbed her staff and stood up from her seat, making her way towards her room, bidding her son's goodnight.

Leonardo gazing down at the ground, he thought about his mother's words. "Perhaps we should stop." He said.

"And let the foot take over the city? Yeah, I don't think so." Raph argued.

"I understand where you're coming from but mom's right. The only reason we've been able to defeat the foot is by pure dumb luck. Those elites handed our asses to us whether you want to believe it or not."

"Leo, we can't let the foot roam free in the city. Who knows what they'll do to it if we don't stop them?" Donnie argued.

"I know that, just..." Leo wanted to reason with his brother but his mind could not come up with anything to counter him.

"We can't stop fighting, not just for the city but for dad," Raph stated, much to the dismay of his brothers.

"Again with that?" Donnie groaned to his brother.

"What? Don't think you haven't thought about it before! Getting revenge on Oroku Saki for what he did to our dad?!" He explained.

"We don't even know if he's here in New York!" Leo argued.

"He has to be or else why would the foot be here?" Raph reasoned. "C'mon, guys... I know you want to make him pay for what he did to dad."

Everyone stayed quiet and averted their gaze from the red turtle who knew what was going on within their heads. He may not be the sharpest brother but he knows his brothers more than anyone, except Mikey.

"I know mom wants to keep us safe but we can take care of ourselves. I know we can take down Oroku Saki. It's four ninjas against one, how hard can he be?" He tried to get them to agree with him but it didn't work.

"If not for dad, then for the city at least?"Raphael extended his arm with a closed fist, waiting for his brothers to make a choice. He knew they couldn't stand down and let the city get under the control of the foot.

Donatello was the first turtle to put his hand next to his red-clad brother. "For father," He stated.

Michelangelo was the second turtle to extend his hand out towards his brothers. "For the city," He said.

Leonardo was the last turtle to extend his hand, giving a sigh of defeat. "For both."

* * *

Back at Foot Headquarters, Ocho and Honshu managed their way back to their master. Both bowed their heads down in shame.

"Was your mission successful in finishing off the turtles?" Saki questioned them.

"No, sensei. The turtles were stronger than we have anticipated. They were resourceful in their victory." Honshu reported embarrassingly. Saki was not pleased and averted his gaze from his soldiers.

"But…" Ocho started.

That seemed to intrigue his master's curiosity. He turned his head back to face Ocho, "But?"

"I managed to salvage something that will interest you, Sensei," Ocho stated, standing up from the floor and grabbing something from his pocket. He handed it to his master who inspected the item.

It was the shuriken that Ocho had found. Saki observed the engraving, the familiar symbol bringing back old memories. Suddenly, realization hit him.

"The Hamato clan?! Here?! I thought I had destroyed them back in Japan!" Saki shouted, shocked at this discovery.

"This would explain why they defeated your strongest men," Cheng said.

"But this is impossible, there is no one left of the Hamato clan that could be training their own ninjas," Saki claimed, his gaze still fixed on the shuriken.

"The proof is there in your hand… perhaps it is someone you thought dead." Cheng said to his master.

"It cannot be Yoshi, I had… killed him many years ago…" Saki looked away from the item in his hand, his mind filling up with the memory of fire and blood.

"What about Tang Shen?"

"It… no, she died alongside Yoshi in the fire, buried alongside him." He panned the idea, knowing full well she couldn't be alive.

He shifted his gaze back to the engraving on the shuriken. The symbol, it reminded him of old times, both good and bad.

"Perhaps you were right, Cheng. Perhaps they could prove useful to me." He said before putting the shuriken away in his own pocket.

"Do you want us to find the turtles, Sensei?" Honshu asked his master, ready to appease him after his failure.

"No…" He said, much to the surprise of everyone, including Cheng who usually predicts his master's next move. Saki stands up from his chair and walks down the steps that held up the chair.

"I will find the turtles myself."


End file.
